March 26, 2011
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin's top varsity lightweight boats got their first taste of racing this spring with the Stanford Invitational in Redwood Shores, Calif., on Saturday. UW's second varsity lightweight eight grabbed two victories to lead the day, while UW's top boat fell twice in early season tests against defending national champion Stanford and perennial power Princeton.
UW opened the day with a race against Stanford in the morning. The Cardinal clocked a 7:07.9 over 2000 meters to best Wisconsin's time of 7:13.4. Conditions included a variable crosswind of five miles per hour and a bit more.
In the afternoon, UW's top boat raced Princeton and fell by just under 11 seconds. The Tigers timed 7:19.3 to Wisconsin's 7:30.2.
"Stanford and Princeton did a great job today and showed that they are two of the top crews in the country," said lightweight coach Erik Miller. "They rowed strong, smart, aggressive races and deserved their victories over our varsity eight. They will be the targets we are chasing for the rest of the spring season.
"Our top boat did some things well today, but clearly lost some of the things we had worked on last week in Texas. It is always tough to come out and race fast crews like these when we are not able to get on the water the week beforehand. With the young group we have this year the result today is not what we had hoped for, but not completely unexpected either. We have two freshmen and four sophomores in the top boat, and I think it was a pretty valuable experience for them to come out and see what it will take to compete at this level."
Miller found a silver lining of sorts in the day's competition, despite the two losses, that will help the team move forward during the rest of the meet and the rest of the season.
"It is good for us to get a benchmark for the spring season, see how much faster we'll need to go, and the get to work on making the improvements when we are able to get back on the water."
UW's second lightweight eight produced better results, cruising to victories over Stanford and Princeton. The Badgers crossed the line over 13 seconds faster than the host Cardinal and over 16 seconds faster than the Tigers.
"I am happy with the performance of our second eight today," said Miller. "They came out and raced strong and had relatively easy wins. It shows that we have a deep team, and we clearly have some fast people in that group, and also in the group that did not travel this weekend. We have a deep, talented group to draw upon if we need to change the lineups around later in the spring."
The Badgers finish competition at the Stanford Invitational on Sunday against St. Mary's.
Stanford Invitational
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Redwood Shores, Calif.
2000 meters
MORNING
Varsity Lightweight Eight
1. Stanford, 7:07.9; 2. Wisconsin, 7:13.4
Second Varsity Lightweight Eight
1. Wisconsin, 7:13.4; 2. Stanford, 7:26.8
AFTERNOON
Varsity Lightweight Eight
1. Princeton, 7:19.3; 2. Wisconsin, 7:30.2
Second Varsity Lightweight Eight
1. Wisconsin, 8:23.1; 2. Princeton, 8:39.3
UW LW 1V8 Lineup: Coxswain Shelly Miller, Hillary Schmidt, Allie Brown, Helen Beckner, Abby Knight, Constance Chucholowski, Johanna Brady, Christin Wiegand, Grace Lautman
UW LW 2V8 Lineup: Coxswain Lexi Sabarots, Maddy Raff, Breanne Lynch, Taylor Fries, Jessica Lund, Emily Finch, Kristin Eline, Erin Wylie, Meredith Freshley
