May 30, 2015

West Windsor, N.J. --- The first medal awarded at the 2015 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship will come back to Madison, Wisconsin, as the Wisconsin women's lightweight double sculls captured gold on Friday on Mercer Lake.

Racing in the inaugural event, the duo of sophomore Gabriela Purman (Wayland, Massachusetts) and Julia Glueck (Seattle) combined to scull their way to an open-water victory over second-place Stanford. UW clocked a 7:38.115, over four seconds quicker than the Cardinal's time of 7:42.455. Boston University took third in 7:50.758. Seven schools competed in the event.

"The double did an amazing job handling their competitors," lightweight coach Lisa Schlenker stated. "Wisconsin parents and family enjoyed watching the show as it unfolded. Congrats to Stanford who gave a strong second-half push."

In addition to the first title of the IRAs, Wisconsin's varsity lightweight eight and varsity lightweight four did what they had to do to advance to Sunday's grand finals, giving the Badgers a chance to add to their medal haul.

In the lightweight eight, top-ranked Stanford won Wisconsin's heat with a time of 6:34.018. The fifth-ranked Badgers were second in 6:36.996, good enough to qualify for the national championship race. They reached the line faster than No. 4 Princeton, a school the Badgers lost to in their last action nearly a month ago at Eastern Sprints.

"The eight had contact with Stanford for most of the race but the real battle was with Princeton," Schlenker explained. "In the last 250 Wisconsin budged ahead and finished second to Stanford by two seconds."

The Badgers will face Stanford, Princeton, No. 2 Radcliffe, No. 3 Boston University and No. 7 Georgetown for the national championship at 7:50 a.m. CT.

While the Badgers grabbed one title already, the four-time defending IRA champion varsity lightweight four was second in its heat to Stanford. The Cardinal clocked 7:26.898 to ease into Sunday's grand final. The time was over three seconds faster than Wisconsin's second-place time of 7:30.326, which was good enough to reach the grand final.

"The four, composed of two national champions, two freshmen and a strong junior came from behind to nail the second qualifying spot," Schlenker said.
 
UW will face Stanford, Radcliffe, Princeton, MIT and Boston University in the lightweight four title race on Sunday at 9:40 a.m. CT.

"Badgers are on the hunt," Schlenker concluded. "We have solid crews this year. Everything is up for grabs tomorrow.

"Wisco lights are ready for battle!"

2015 IRA National Championships
West Windsor, N.J.
Mercer Lake
May 30, 2015
2,000 meters

Varsity Lightweight Eight
Heat 1 (Top two to Sunday grand final, rest to afternoon repechage)
1. Stanford, 6:34.018; 2. Wisconsin, 6:36.996; 3. Princeton, 6:39.274; 4. Villanova, 7:03.634; 5. Tulsa, 7:07.520

UW Lineup -- Coxswain Brianna Murphy, Megan Oechsel, Jennifer Kish, Lara Tiramani, Gretchen Miron, Katie Rosoff, Nicole Bowman, Brianna Wynne, Helena Randle

Varsity Lightweight Four
Heat 1 (Top two to Sunday grand final, rest to afternoon repechage)
1. Stanford, 7:26.898; 2. Wisconsin, 7:30.326; 3. Radcliffe, 7:34.702; 4. Boston University, 7:35.631

Coxswain Tenzin Khangkar, Mackenzie Whiteside, Mirha Girt, Olivia Meehan, Beatrix Tobey

Varsity Lightweight Double Sculls
Grand Final
1. Wisconsin, 7:38.115; 2. Stanford, 7:42.455; 3. Boston University, 7:50.758; 4. Radcliffe, 7:54.337; 5. Oklahoma City, 7:58.180; 6. Princeton, 7:59.522; 7. MIT, 8:29.398

UW Lineup -- Gabriela Purman, Julia Glueck