April 9, 2011

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 3 Wisconsin women’s lightweight rowing team finished the first day of competition at the Knecht Cup, held on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J., on Saturday.

In addition to qualifying seven boats for five grand finals, The Badgers will defend their titles in the women’s lightweight eight and women’s frosh/novice eight grand finals Sunday morning.

“It was a pretty successful day,” said varsity head coach Erik Miller, who also noted that the varsity eight, second varsity eight and novice eight crews are moving on to the finals against heavyweight opponents.

To get there, the varsity eight finished second in the quarterfinals in 7:11.13, falling only to Grand Valley State (Mich.), who finished in 7:07.73. West Virginia, who will be joining the Badgers in the grand final, finished in a close third in 7:11.61.

UW also came in second in the semifinals, finishing in 6:52.47 to Duke’s 6:48.03.

The second varsity eight had a little easier path to the grand final, as the Badgers won their quarterfinal heat in 7:25.21, besting second-place Drexel by 27 seconds. They also won the semifinals with the fastest time among all competitors (6:58.55).

The novice squad finished the day on top of the standings in its races to get to the grand final. The Badgers also ended the quarterfinal race with a large margin of victory, beating runner-up North Carolina by 25 seconds to come in at 7:20.30.

The varsity four raced to a second-place finish in its quarterfinal heat to finish in 8:45.32 and a sixth-place finish in the semifinal in 8:41.74. The Badgers will race in the third-level varsity four final.

The Badgers stood out in the women’s lightweight eight race, qualifying all three boats entered to the grand final on Sunday morning.

Wisconsin’s ‘C’ boat won the first semifinal in 6:52.94, almost eight seconds ahead of the Badgers’ ‘A’ boat (7:00.24). UW’s ‘B’ boat, meanwhile, finished runner-up to Bucknell’s ‘A’ boat in the second semifinal, clocking in at 7:03.60.

“It’s pretty exciting to have three boats in the (lightweight eight) final,” said Miller.

“It will be fun to see how some of the boats do against the heavyweight competition.”

Knecht Cup (Day 1)
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Cooper River (Cherry Hill, N.J.)
2,000 meters

Women’s Varsity Eight (Event 34)
Quarterfinal Heat 4
1. Grand Valley, 7:07.73; 2. Wisconsin, 7:11.13; 3. West Virginia, 7:11.61; 4. Colgate, 7:20.03; 5. Army, 7:48.31; 6. Robert Morris, 8:12.87


Semifinal 1
1. Duke, 6:48.03; 2. Wisconsin, 6:52.47; 3. George Mason, 6:55.10; 4. UNH, 7:02.97; 5. UMass, 7:05.73; 6. Boston College, 7:09.13

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 (Event 27)
Quarterfinal Heat 3
1. Wisconsin, 7:25.21; 2. Drexel, 7:52.63; 3. West Virginia, 7:57.10; 4. North Carolina, 8:00.84; 5. Duquesne, 8:12.98; 6. Lehigh, 8:13.74

Semifinal 2
1. Wisconsin, 6:58.55; 2. Buffalo, 7:01.68; 3. UConn, 7:01.83; 4. Rutgers, 7:11.07; 5. Kansas A, 7:12.31; 6. West Virginia, 7:41.85

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 (Event 14)
Semifinal Heat 1
1. Wisconsin C, 6:52.94; 2. Wisconsin A, 7:00.24; 3. MIT A, 7:10.24; 4. MIT B, 7:25.47; 5. UMass, 7:49.66

Semifinal Heat 2
1. Bucknell A, 7:00.14; 2. Wisconsin B, 7:03.60; 3. Buffalo, 7:06.44; 4. Bucknell B, 7:28.10

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 (Event 8)
Quarterfinal Heat 2
1. North Carolina, 8:38.52; 2. Wisconsin, 8:45.32; 3. LaSalle, 9:00.55; 4. Marist, 9:05.21; 5. Iona, 9:08.99; 6. Hofstra, 9:25.12

Semifinal 3
1. Old Dominion, 8:16.51; 2. Boston College, 8:27; 3. Drexel, 8:34.15; 4. UConn, 8:37.78; 5. UMass B, 8:40.88; 6. Wisconsin, 8:41.74

UW Lineup: Coxswain Janel Alters, Erin Mullin, Gabrielle Read, Lauren Steavpack, Emily Jayne

Women’s Lightweight Four (Event 18)
Semifinal Heat 2
1. Loyola, 8:35.74; 2. Wisconsin, 8:39.34; 3. MIT A, 8:46.12; 4. Penn State, 9:16.51

UW Lineup: Coxswain Janel Alters, Erin Mullin, Gabrielle Read, Lauren Steavpack, Emily Jayne

Women’s Frosh/Novice Eight (Event 24)
Quarterfinal Heat 3
1. Wisconsin, 7:20.30; 2. North Carolina, 7:45.38; 3. Buffalo, 7:55.76; 4. UNH, 8:01.42; 5. Rutgers, 8:01.82; 6. NYU, 8:59.97

Semifinal Heat 2
1. Wisconsin, 7:14.08; 2. Kansas, 7:19.89; 3. LaSalle, 7:27.04; 4. Delaware, 7:39.01; 5. Boston College, 7:40.78; 6. UConn, 7:46.94

UW Lineup: Coxswain Jenna Pavelec, Maddy Raff, MaryEllen Powers, Emily Finch, Kristin Eline, Sophie Gavell, Laura Urban, Gillian Lapadat, Samantha Fix


Sunday’s Races

Women’s Varsity Eight Grand Final (Event 34)
Lane Assignments
1. West Virginia
2. Old Dominion
3. Rutgers
4. Duke
5. Wisconsin
6. Grand Valley

Women’s Second Varsity Eight Grand Final (Event 27)
Lane Assignments
1. Duke
2. UMass
3. Delaware
4. Wisconsin
5. Buffalo
6. UConn

Women’s Lightweight Eight Final (Event 14)
Lane Assignments
1. Buffalo
2. Wisconsin B
3. Bucknell A
4. Wisconsin C
5. Wisconsin A
6. MIT A

Women’s Varsity Four 3rd-Level Final (Event 8)
Lane Assignments
1. LaSalle
2. UMass B
3. UNH
4. Duquesne
5. Wisconsin
6. North Carolina

Women’s Lightweight Four Final (Event 18)
Lane Assignments
1. MIT A
2. Wisconsin
3. Loyola
4. Pittsburgh
5. Lafayette
6. Susquehanna

Women’s Frosh/Novice Eight Grand Final (Event 24)
Lane Assignments
1. Villanova
2. Miami
3. North Carolina
4. Wisconsin
5. Kansas
6. LaSalle