BOSTON – The Wisconsin women's lightweight rowing program headed east to the 53rd annual Head of the Charles to compete among 11,000 competitors and in front of 10s of thousands of spectators along the three-mile Charles River course.

Taking part in the women's lightweight eight, the Badgers' crew placed fourth among eight crews by clocking 16 minutes, 13.742 seconds. Stanford won the race in 15:46.726, while Boston University (15:53.867) and Radcliffe (15:54.279) completed the top three spots.

"The theme of the fall for the varsity lightweights has really been on focusing on making good individual technical changes and then working to come together with those changes," lightweight coach Dusty Mattison said. "I think with the Head of the Charles this weekend, that was something that was executed more than we have seen this fall.

"From that standpoint, I'm really happy with how the team did and when they came off the water they were really excited with how they felt their performance was as a boat and teammates working together, having fun and creating memories."

The Badgers did perform how they were hoping, but didn't get the results that went along it.

"We had a goal time in mind and they exceeded that, that was fantastic, but they saw themselves being higher up within the competition," Mattison said. "We definitely have room for improvement. We are going to be racing Minnesota next week. Hopefully we can make a few changes and see if that get some increases in speed and a little more gelling together.

"For the most part it was a great weekend where they got to spend time together."

A special thanks goes out to a couple of Boston area alumni, who helped make the Badgers feel welcome.

"I want to take time to say thank you to alumni Lena Randle and her parents for hosting us at their house and letting us take over," Mattison said. "I know that the athletes will have those memories for ever.

"Also a thank you to alumni Audrey Dalgano and her family for hosting us for dinner on Saturday night where the athletes and their parents got to relax and get ready for Sunday."

Head of the Charles
Boston
Oct. 22, 2017
3 miles

Women's Lightweight Eight (8 entries)
1. Stanford, 15:46.726; 2. Boston University, 15:53.867; 3. Radcliffe, 15:54.279; 4. Wisconsin, 16:13.742; 5. Princeton, 16:17.484; 6. MIT, 16:20.241; 7. Boston University B, 18:17.777; 8. MIT B, 20:10.289

UW Lineup - Coxswain Anika Chatterjee, Kathryne Ruffalo, Marilyn Garberg, Brianna Wynne, Mirha Girt, Agathe Denis, Janet Titzler, Grace Joyce, Rachel Illgen