April 19, 2015

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- The Wisconsin men's rowing program took part in the second day of the Stanford Invitational on Redwood Shore Lagoon today. After tough racing yesterday, the Badgers stepped it up and made major improvements in today's races.

In the varsity eight, the men came in second place to Stanford in the first race of the day. Stanford finished in 5:51.3 with the Badgers trailing by only 3.5 seconds. Yesterday, the varsity eight fell to California by almost 20 seconds but came back in the afternoon to come within one second of Oregon State. Such extreme improvements show Wisconsin is moving in the direction they would like to be for the Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championships. 

"This year's trip was similar to last year's. Due to a late water start we haven't had much time to sort things out and the results show it. In Madison, over the next few weeks, I'm confident we will be able to sort things out and get back in the mix," head coach Chris Clark said. 

The second varsity eight ended the invitational with a win as well. Wisconsin made it's way down the course in 5:59.9 with open water as Stanford trailed to a 6:08.4 finish.

Once again, the stellar novice boat posted a victory. The freshman finished almost as quickly as the varsity eight, with an overall time of 5:55.1. Stanford's crew didn't pull its way to the line for another 21.9 seconds. 

"A special mention needs to be made of the freshman. This is a talented group that enjoys racing. A close look at their times compared to the other events gives you a real indication of who they are already and how good they may become," Clark said.

The Badgers don't race next weekend, but have the home advantage on May 2-3. Wisconsin will compete against Boston University, MIT and Northeastern on Devils Lake in Baraboo, Wisconsin before heading to the EARC Championships.

Stanford Invitational
Redwood City, Calif.?
Redwood Shores Lagoon
April 19, 2015?
2000 meters

Varsity Eight
1. Stanford, 5:51.3; 2. Wisconsin, 5:54.8
UW Lineup: Coxswain James Roen, Kyle Smith, Sam Ginouves, Sam Weeks, James Lueken, Jim Letten, Patrick Muto, Michael Knippen, Matt Sobotka

Second Varsity Eight
1. Wisconsin, 5:59.9; 2. Stanford, 6:08.4
UW Lineup: Coxswain Ben Flaherty, Andrew Stone, Peter Burrus, Steven Thom, Laing Wise, William Bleifuss, George Perrett, William Horvat, Alex Idarraga 

Freshmen Eight
1. Wisconsin, 5:55.1; 2. Stanford, 6:17.0
UW Lineup: Coxswain Theodore Van Beek, Nickolas Montalvo, Andrew Flannery, James Bernard, Tristan Amberger, Erik Kernozek, Andrew Griffin, Jonah Van der Weide, Jacob Hurlbutt