April 16, 2011
MADISON, Wis. – The No. 9 Wisconsin women’s openweight rowing team opened competition at the Lake Natoma Invitational in Gold River, Calif., on Saturday.
To start day one, the Badgers competed in flight two of the varsity four races and came in a close second to No. 5 Stanford, which finished in 7:14.80 to UW’s 7:15.76. Central Florida finished in third, almost 30 seconds behind Wisconsin. The varsity eight and second varsity eight boats also finished runners-up behind the Cardinal in their respective morning races.
The novice eight only raced during the morning session. Although the Badgers fell to Oregon State in the last race of the morning, their time of 6:53.90 was enough for the crew to secure a spot in Sunday morning’s grand final.
“The novice eight raced hard and well this morning,” said head coach Bebe Bryans. “They’re looking forward to another shot at them (OSU) tomorrow morning.
“Every row for this boat has them improving.”
Wisconsin competed against No. 6 Brown and Oregon State in all three varsity races during the afternoon session.
The varsity four had a three-seat lead on Brown with 600 meters to go in their race. The Badgers finished in 7:33.60, five seconds ahead of the Bears (7:38.87) and almost eight ahead of the Beavers (7:41.17).
The second varsity eight also completed the 2000 meter course ahead of Brown, finishing two seconds ahead of the Bears in 6:39.05.
Wisconsin’s top boat ended the first day of competition with a second-place finish behind Brown. The Badgers finished with a time of 6:41.43, nine seconds behind the Bears.
“It was a good day of racing overall - the weather was really nice and calm - a little head wind this afternoon but nothing serious and the water was great,” Bryans explained. “We made some good improvements from the morning to the afternoon sessions in the four and the second varsity eight - they raced very well and rowed better in the afternoon. The varsity is still struggling to find its speed, and we're still playing with lineups to help that happen.”
With just under a month until the Big Ten Championships in Indianapolis, Bryans and the team are taking every chance they get to improve.
“Every day on the water is an opportunity to get faster at this point, so we have to take advantage of that even though (this weekend) it's a racing situation.”
All three varsity boats will compete in the respective Group B Finals starting just after 10:10 CDT Sunday morning, while the novice eight races in the grand final at 11:10 a.m. Fans can follow the Lake Natoma Invitational on Twitter for live results.
Lake Natoma Invitational (Day 1)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Gold River, Calif.
2,000 meters
Varsity Eight
Morning Flight 2
1. Stanford, 6:26.80; 2. Wisconsin, 6:39.26; 3. Central Florida, 6:45.00
UW Lineup: Coxswain Kendall Schmidt, Rachel Buchholtz, Vanessa Kleiss, Jacquelyn Koykkar, Lisa Godhardt, Anna Schettle, Amy Slesar, Briana Pittman, Kate Mansfield
Afternoon Flight 3
1. Brown, 6:32.00; 2. Wisconsin, 6:41.43; 3. Oregon State, 6:55.54
UW Lineup: Coxswain Kendall Schmidt, Rachel Buchholtz, Vanessa Kleiss, Jacquelyn Koykkar, Lisa Godhardt, Amy Slesar, Anna Schettle, Briana Pittman, Kate Mansfield
Second Varsity Eight
Morning Flight 2
1. Stanford, 6:29.06; 2. Wisconsin, 6:30.76; 3. Central Florida, 7:08.46
UW Lineup: Coxswain Jane Roberts, Lauren Pietila, Rebekah Foelker, Margaret Yale, Hanna Lynch, Caitlin Mueller, Katelyn Swanson, Kirsten Morelli, Hayley Leinss
Afternoon Flight 3
1. Wisconsin, 6:39.05; 2. Brown, 6:41.42; 3. Oregon State, 6:53.85
UW Lineup: Coxswain Jane Roberts, Lauren Pietila, Rebekah Foelker, Margaret Yale, Hanna Lynch, Katelyn Swanson, Caitlin Mueller, Kirsten Morelli, Hayley Leinss
Varsity Four
Morning Flight 2
1. Stanford, 7:14.80; 2. Wisconsin, 7:15.76; 3. Central Florida, 7:43.57
Afternoon Flight 3
1. Wisconsin, 7:33.60; 2. Brown, 7:38.87; 3. Oregon State, 7:41.17
UW Lineup: Coxswain Clare Chandler, Katherine Hanes, Shannon Schlack, Shannon Hoffman, Mollie Kryka
Novice Eight
Morning Flight 2
1. Oregon State, 6:51.09; 2. Wisconsin, 6:53.90; 3. California B, 7:16.98; 4. Sacramento State, 7:27.44
Sunday’s Lineups
Varsity Eight Group B Final
Lane Assignments
1. Wisconsin
2. Notre Dame
3. Tennessee
Second Varsity Eight Group B Final
Lane Assignments
1. Wisconsin
2. Notre Dame
3. Tennessee
Varsity Four Group B Final
Lane Assignments
1. Wisconsin
2. Notre Dame
3. Tennessee
Novice Eight Grand Final
Lane Assignments
1. Oregon State
2. California ‘A’
3. Wisconsin
4. Stanford
