June 5, 2010

Photo Gallery

CHERRY HILL, N.J. – It took a course record to end Wisconsin women’s lightweight rowing’s two-year hold on the national championship. The top-ranked Wisconsin women’s varsity lightweight eight finished second at the 2010 Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships to second-ranked Stanford on the Cooper River. Racing took place Saturday morning over 2000 meters.

“I think that our team did a pretty good job today,” said Head Coach Erik Miller. “Stanford was just a little bit better. I was really impressed the way we raced in both our races. The four and the eight rowed up to our expectations and they had solid performances. They did everything that was asked of them today, at this regatta and this year. There’s really not much else we could have done. Stanford had a fantastic performance and looked good and same goes for Loyola in the four. Both those crews looked solid and did a really good job.”

With a stiff tailwind and in sunny and hot conditions, Wisconsin clocked a 6:32.023 to claim second place in the varsity lightweight eight race for the national championship. Stanford captured the title by two seats of open water in a time of 6:28.209. Princeton rounded out the top three spots with a time of 6:36.784.

“We knew from the heats yesterday that Stanford was going to have a really fast start the first 500 or so,” stated Miller. We did what we could to stay with them. I think we were a little bit quicker in the first 500 than we were yesterday, but it wasn’t enough to stay with them. Stanford had close to a length by the time they got to 500 meters, which is about what I thought based on the times yesterday. We took some moves and could move back a seat or two, but they quickly countered and held us off again. When it came down to it, they had the same speed as we did in the second half of the race and they had already established that lead. There wasn’t too much we could do to catch them.”

The Badgers had beaten Stanford earlier this spring by just under a second, and recent victories by Stanford over common opponents by larger margins than the Badgers showed it was going to be a challenge for Wisconsin to take its third consecutive title. It proved to be just that, and the Badgers dropped their first race against a lightweight crew since May 2008.

“They are disappointed with the result, but I don’t think they are disappointed with their effort,” added Miller. They did a good job. They know they rowed well and did everything they could. Stanford had a fast time, we just couldn’t quite match that. It is a little bit disappointing not to come out on top. There’s no shame in losing a race. They did a good job, but it wasn’t quite good enough.”

Rowing for Wisconsin in the varsity lightweight eight were junior coxswain Shelly Miller (Manlius, N.Y.), senior Dani Dewitt (Parkersburg, W. Va), junior Grace Lautman (Seattle), senior Sarah Padway (River Hills, Wis.), senior Katherine Fink (Manhasset, N.Y.), frosh Constance Chucholowski (San Diego, Calif.), senior Kaela Erickson (Wauwatosa, Wis.), junior Mia Cava (Ardmore, Pa.) and frosh Abby Knight (Clifton Park, N.Y.).

Despite the runner-up finish, Wisconsin owns two of the past three and five of the last seven national championships in the varsity lightweight eight.

Wisconsin’s varsity lightweight four also claimed runner-up status, timing 7:37.107 to gain second. Loyola (Md.), with its top four rowers in the boat, won the event in 7:33.352.  

“The fours race was in some ways similar to the eights race,” explained Miller. “Yesterday we raced against Loyola in our heat and they jumped out really fast and surprised us a little bit off the start. So the plan today was not to fall behind quite so much at the start and we did a job with that. In both races, the eight and the four, we were able to adjust the plan a little bit and stay more with the crews that we knew would be fast at the start. Ultimately, we couldn’t quite make it up in the end. It was, in that way, very similar to the eights race, but again, they did a fantastic job and went about as fast as we figured they would be able to go and had a great race.”

2010 IRA National Championships
Cooper River
Cherry Hill, N.J.
June 5, 2010
2000 meters

Varsity Lightweight Eight
Grand Final
1. Stanford, 6:28.209; 2. Wisconsin, 6:32.023; 3. Princeton, 6:36.784; 4. Radcliffe, 6:43.715; 5. Bucknell, 6:44.939; 6. Georgetown, 6:50.538

UW Lineup – Coxswain Shelly Miller, Dani Dewitt, Grace Lautman, Sarah Padway, Katherine Fink, Constance Chucholowski, Kaela Erickson, Mia Cava, Abby Knight

Varsity Lightweight Four
Grand Final
1. Loyola (Md.), 7:33.352; 2. Wisconsin, 7:37.107; 3. Bucknell, 7:41.083; 4. Radcliffe, 7:44.569; 5. Stanford, 7:44.833; 6. Georgetown, 7:58.819

UW Lineup – Coxswain Adrienne Winfield, Breanne Lynch, Gabrielle Waclawik, Johanna Brady, Kate Ludwig