Badgers to defend Burnin' Blade Award against Golden Gophers
April 27, 2012 | Women's Rowing
April 27, 2012
MADISON, Wis. -- The No. 9 Wisconsin openweight rowing team travels to Minneapolis this weekend to compete against border-rival Minnesota on Sunday. The teams will compete for the annual Burnin' Blade Award, awarded to the varsity eight winner between the two schools.
Last year, the Badgers won the inaugural trophy, beating the Gophers on Lake Mendota, winning five of the six races against Minnesota.
The crews will meet Saturday morning, with the opening race at 9 a.m. Each crew will race two varsity eights, three varsity fours and three novice eights.
"This is our Border Battle, so we are excited about it," said head coach Bebe Bryans. "Minnesota is a team that gets faster and faster throughout the season and I expect them to be really strong competitors, so it's going to require us to be at our best."
This being the last race of the regular season, Wisconsin is looking to show improvements from their races in California on April 14-15 at the Lake Natoma Invitational. The No. 11 Badgers closed the two day regatta with a trio of second-place finishes to No. 8 California.
"We want to be faster than we were two weeks ago," Bryans said. "We also want to see that the lineups are working better together and that we are continuing to pick up speed."
The Big Ten Championships will be held in Indianapolis on May 15. Last year the No. 13-ranked Badgers collected 121 points to place third, while the varsity four earned a conference title.
For live results follow @BadgerRowing on Twitter and the women's rowing Facebook page.
