April 10, 2011
MADISON, Wis. – The No. 3 Wisconsin women’s lightweight rowing team continued its successful weekend of competition at the Knecht Cup in Camden, N.J., on Sunday by winning three grand finals.
“I’m really pleased with how the team performed this weekend,” said varsity head coach Erik Miller. “The team is young, but they had a lot of confidence and ability, and I’m happy with the way they showed it.”
The most important win was that of the women’s lightweight eight race, which had three UW boats in it. The ‘A’ boat came out victorious, finishing in 6:57.65. The Badgers’ ‘C’ boat finished second (7:00.18), while the novice ‘B’ boat came in fourth (7:12.17).
“It was a fantastic performance from all three boats,” Miller said. “It really speaks to how deep we are (as a team) that we can go out and put two boats ahead of some of our biggest competition (Bucknell, who placed third).”
The novice rowers picked up where their predecessors left off and brought home the second straight title for Wisconsin in the women’s frosh/novice eight grand final. The crew, led by coxswain Jenna Pavelec, clocked in at 7:09.31 to take the win ahead of host Villanova (7:17.77) and Kansas (7:18.90).
The closest race of the weekend for the Badgers was the women’s second varsity eight grand final. After winning Saturday’s quarterfinal race by 27 seconds and Saturday’s semifinal race by three seconds, UW’s crew raced to a narrow victory by finishing .11 second over runner-up Delaware.
“They had a phenomenal sprint and made up a lot of ground (to win),” Miller explained. “It was a very exciting race to watch.”
After racing in the women’s lightweight eight final earlier in the day, the Badgers top boat faced off against heavyweight crews in the women’s varsity eight final and finished sixth in 7:05.16.
The varsity lightweight four had a quick turnaround in their two races of the day, first racing in the women’s lightweight four grand final at 7:10 a.m. CDT, then competing in the women’s varsity four third-level final an hour and 20 minutes later. In the lightweight race, the Badgers finished fourth in 8:24.87 behind winner and defending national champion Loyola (8:11.11). The same Badger boat went on to take fifth in the varsity four third-level final with a time of 8:35.98.
“The fours had some struggles, but they did what they were hoping to,” Miller said. “It was a good performance overall.
“Each of the boats had races they were happy with and others they wish they did better on, but I’m happy with the performances all weekend.”
Up next, the No. 3 Badgers meet No. 7 MIT on April 23 on Lake Mendota. Check uwbadgers.com for updates.
Knecht Cup (Day 2)
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Cooper River (Cherry Hill, N.J.)
2,000 meters
Women’s Varsity Eight Grand Final (Event 34)
1. Grand Valley State, 6:47.34; 2. Rutgers, 6:47.61; 3. Old Dominion, 6:53.50; 4. Duke, 6:55.31; 5. West Virginia, 7:02.74; 6. Wisconsin, 7:05.16
UW Lineup: Coxswain Lexi Sabarots, Hillary Schmidt, Breanne Lynch, Christin Wiegand, Johanna Brady, Erin Wylie, Allie Brown, Constance Chucholowski, Abby Knight
Women’s Second Varsity Eight Grand Final (Event 27)
1. Wisconsin, 6:57.58; 2. Delaware, 6:57.69; 3. UMass, 6:58.00; 4. Buffalo, 6:59.17; 5. UConn, 7:02.70; 6. Duke, 7:05.31
UW Lineup: Coxswain Shelly Miller, Helen Beckner, Grace Lautman, Jessica Lund, Taylor Fries, Caroline Mansueti, Anais Webster, Jennifer Gross, Meredith Freshley
Women’s Lightweight Eight Final (Event 14)
1. Wisconsin A, 6:57.65; 2. Wisconsin C, 7:00.18; 3. Bucknell A, 7:05.06; 4. Wisconsin B, 7:12.17; 5. Buffalo; 7:15.51; 6. MIT A, 7:15.52
UW A Lineup: Coxswain Shelly Miller, Hillary Schmidt, Breanne Lynch, Christin Wiegand, Johanna Brady, Erin Wylie, Allie Brown, Constance Chucholowski, Abby Knight
UW B Lineup: Coxswain Jenna Pavelec, Maddy Raff, MaryEllen Powers, Emily Finch, Kristin Eline, Sophie Gavell, Laura Urban, Gillian Lapadat, Samantha Fix
UW C Lineup: Coxswain Lexi Sabarots, Helen Beckner, Grace Lautman, Jessica Lund, Taylor Fries, Caroline Mansueti, Anais Webster, Jennifer Gross, Meredith Freshley
Women’s Varsity Four Third-Level Final (Event 8)
1. UNH, 8:19.66; 2. North Carolina, 8:25.74; 3. UMass B, 8:34.03; 4. Duquesne, 8:35.40; 5. Wisconsin, 8:35.98; 6. LaSalle, 8:51.58
UW Lineup: Coxswain Janel Alters, Erin Mullin, Gabrielle Read, Lauren Steavpack, Emily Jayne
Women’s Lightweight Four (Event 19)
1. Loyola, 8:11.11; 2. Pittsburgh, 8:15.49; 3. MIT A, 8:21.30; 4. Wisconsin, 8:24.87; 5. Lafayette, 8:38.55; 6. Susquehanna, 9:02.21
UW Lineup: Coxswain Janel Alters, Erin Mullin, Gabrielle Read, Lauren Steavpack, Emily Jayne
Women’s Frosh/Novice Eight Grand Final (Event 24)
1. Wisconsin, 7:09.31; 2. Villanova, 7:17.77; 3. Kansas, 7:18.90; 4. Miami, 7:21.12; 5. LaSalle, 7:23.16; 6. North Carolina, 7:29.95
UW Lineup: Coxswain Jenna Pavelec, Maddy Raff, MaryEllen Powers, Emily Finch, Kristin Eline, Sophie Gavell, Laura Urban, Gillian Lapadat, Samantha Fix
