PHILADELPHIA – It was a new experience for the third-ranked Wisconsin women's lightweight rowing program, as the team competed for the first time at the Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill River.

"We felt that the lightweight women were able to handle the big atmosphere of the regatta really well," lightweight coach Dusty Mattison said. "There is a lot going on. Some changes in directions in terms of on the water and the whole team was able to stay relaxed and focus in and not worry about the distractions. That was really positive."
 
New surroundings, but good results as both the lightweight's entry in the open four put up the second-fastest time of the morning time trail (7:01.661), trailing Lafayette by just over five seconds, and then posting the second-fastest time of the afternoon in winning its semifinal.

"The time trial was a new thing for them to race, so being able to just hone in on their race and be able to put down their fastest time was fun for them this morning," Mattison said. "They came in first in their semifinal with a really good, fast time that put them into the grand final right behind Lafayette in terms of speed."

The boat next races in Saturday's grand final.

"Tomorrow for them is just going to be about coming together," Mattison stated. "This is only going to be there third time on the course racing together. It is going to be good for them to have really strong competition all the way down the race course."

Wisconsin's lightweight four will also compete in its Saturday grand final after winning its semifinal race. The Badgers clocked 7:27.138 to cruise ahead of the field, including second-place MIT (7:41.689).

"They do have the fastest time with BU and MIT right behind them," Mattison remarked. "We know that we can be much cleaner. The wind gave us a little bit of an issue today. Being cleaner and going together is going to be critical for tomorrow. They are excited."

Also racing on Saturday will be the varsity lightweight eight, which is competing in a finals-only event. They will get their first taste of the Dad Vail circus then.

"They were able to lay low today and get to cheer on the fours so that was a great team effort," Mattison said. "The grandstand is going to be filled and loud so that will be new to them. They are going to have to work on staying focused like the fours did today, and on executing a really strong race."

Dad Vail Regatta
May 12-13, 2017
Philadelphia
Schuylkill River
2000 meters

Varsity Lightweight Four
Semifinal 1 (Top 3 to Saturday Grand Final)
1. Wisconsin, 7:27.138; 2. MIT, 7:41.689; 3. California, 7:47.772; 4. Cabrini, 9:21.698
UW Lineup – Coxswain Anika Chatterjee, Claire Kelley, Brianna Ohm, Ariel Tallo, Payton James

Varsity Openweight Four
Semifinal 2 (Top 2 to Saturday Grand Final, next 2 to Final 2, Rest to Final 3)
1. Wisconsin, 7:34.674; 2. Oklahoma City, 7:48.318; 3. Purdue, 7:54.721; 4. Army, 7:55.358; 5. Ohio State, 7:57.822; 6. Nova Southeastern, 8:06.642

Time Trial (29 entries – top 18 to afternoon semifinals)
1. Lafayette, 6:56.227; 2. Wisconsin Ltwt, 7:01.661; 3. Drexel, 7:05.888; 4. Delaware, 7:14.571; 5. Purdue, 7:15.304; 6. Massachusetts, 7:16.199
UW Lineup – Coxswain Lucy Tasker, Jacqueline Jones, Anna Leach, Anna Dawley, Jenn Whitehill

Varsity Lightweight Eight
Saturday Final
UW Lineup – Coxswain Eleanor Martin, Brianna Wynne, Agathe Denis, Grace Joyce, Mirha Girt, Kathryne Ruffalo, Janet Titzler, Alexandra Fochios, Marilyn Garberg