Photo Gallery 

May 3, 2015

BARABOO, Wis. --- The 15th-ranked Wisconsin men's rowing team raced No. 7 Northeastern on Sunday, the second consecutive day of races for the Badgers on Devil's Lake.

With a cross head wind from the starboard between 15-20 miles per hour, the schools faced some chop near the start, but the course flattened out 500 meters into the races.

"All the crews handled it well, on both sides," head coach Chris Clark stated. "In particular, the Northeastern varsity and second varsity really used the second half when it cleaned up to their advantage."

The Badgers took one of three races, with Northeastern winning the varsity eight and second varsity eight events, and UW claiming the third varsity eight race.

In the race for the Congram Cup, named after longtime Northeastern head coach Buzz Congram, the varsity eight boats were within three seats through the first 500 meters, but Northeastern pulled away for a comfortable victory. The Huskies rowed the 2000-meter course in 6:29.0. The Badgers finished over 14 seconds back in 6:43.7.

"The first varsity for us was a disappointment," Clark said. "Not nearly as good of a race as our races on Saturday, which were clean and sharp and under control. We were in it for five to six hundred meters against Northeastern looking fairly easy on our part, but then a couple bad strokes and we were gone. We were able to string parts of a race, but not a full 2000. That margin is a long way. They are a little frustrated and we are counting on the next two weeks to get a lot better."

The race for the Congram Cup is just three-years old and Northeastern owns all three victories. The Huskies' varsity eight also took home the Sword of a Thousand Truths, which is awarded to the crew in the three races between that two schools that went above and beyond the call of duty, whether they won or not. The Spanish-forged sword is in its second year of existence after Wisconsin's second varsity eight won the inaugural award last season.

"Really the Sword went to the entire Northeastern team," Clark stated. They raced Harvard yesterday, then flew out here and raced at Devil's Lake. It was arduous to do what they did to come here and they did it without any complaints, and then dominated."

UW's victory came in the third varsity eight, with its crew rowing a 6:35.8. Wisconsin's freshman eight also competed in the race and took second, clocking 6:39.2. Northeastern's third varsity eight was third in 6:45.00. UW also entered a second freshman eight, fourth varsity eight and third freshman eight, with those three crews taking fourth through sixth, respectively.

"In that third boat/first freshman race, it turned out to be a race between our first freshman and our third varsity," explained Clark. "The third varsity came home hard in the last 250. For the first time in about three years, it looks like we have a representative third varsity of the kind that has a chance at the Eastern Sprints.

"The freshman were right there as well. That is a model we count on -- starting at the bottom and going up through the ranks. It starts at the bottom and that was a good sign, so I was very happy for them. Sometimes all it takes is a little foothold to change the culture of guys who have gotten used to losing too much and they start to realize that winning is a lot more fun. You put in exactly the same amount of effort in practice, but at the end of the day it feels a lot better."

Northeastern also captured the second varsity eight race, winning by just over 10 seconds in a time of 6:40.00. The Badgers finished in 6:50.5.

"For the second varsity eight, they were in the race even longer than the varsity eight, but had the same scenario. A few bad strokes. I would say they lost 10 seconds almost entirely in the last 1000 meters or close to it."

The races against Northeastern concluded a weekend at Devil's Lake State Park, in which the Badgers' men and women saw seven visiting teams over two days.

"Overall Devil's Lake is a great venue," Clark concluded. "We got fantastic and a tremendous amount of support from the athletic department and the state park system. It was great."

Wisconsin now takes two weeks off from racing before heading to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts for the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Championships, more popularly known as the Eastern Sprints. The events, which takes place May 17, serves as the Badgers' conference championships.

vs. No. 7 Northeastern
May 3, 2015
Baraboo, Wis.
Devil's Lake
2000 meters

Varsity Eight (Congram Cup)
1. Northeastern, 6:29.0; 2. Wisconsin, 6:43.7
UW Lineup - Coxswain Ben Flaherty, James Lueken, William Bleifuss, Sam Weeks, Patrick Muto, Michael Knippen, George Perrett, Peter Ginouves, Matt Sobotka

Second Varsity Eight
1. Northeastern, 6:40.0; 2. Wisconsin, 6:50.5
UW Lineup - Coxswain James Roen, Kyle Smith, Laing Wise, Steven Thom, Jim Letten, William Horvat, Alex Idarraga, Andrew Stone, Steve Berg Jr.

Third Varsity Eight/Freshman Eight
1. Wisconsin 3V8, 6:35.8; 2. Wisconsin F8, 6:39.2; 3. Northeastern 3V8, 6:45.0; 4. Wisconsin 2F8, 6:48.5; 5. Wisconsin 4V8, 6:56.7; 6. Wisconsin 3F8, 7:12.0

UW Third Varsity Eight - Coxswain Michael Callahan, Sam Helle, Peter Burrus, Graham Mink, Vince Bertram, Jack Spencer, John Goodman, John French, Jonathan Dobson

UW Freshman Eight - Coxswain Theodore Van Beek, Nickolas Montalvo, Andrew Flannery, James Bernard, Tristan Amberger, Erik Kernozek, Andrew Griffin, Jonah Van der Weide, Jacob Hurlbutt

UW Second Freshman Eight -- Coxswain Jefferson Chan, Alexander Butler, Christoph Bub, Theodore Boesen, John Hollow, Timothy Glennon, Nicholas Ryan, Mark Herzberg, Amos Mayberry

UW Fourth Varsity Eight -- Coxswain Luke Sidoti, Benjamin Webster, Kyle James, Remington Knight, Thomas Walker, Thomas Mandel, James Dodge, Michael Spankowski, Jacob Weber

UW Third Freshman Eight -- Coxswain Savrabh Jain, Thomas Walker, John Morrison, James Dodge, Thomas Mandel, Derek Sachs, Cole Geffre, Charles O'Brien, Steve Knopp