Off to the races

April 13, 2018 | Men's Rowing

No. 10 Badgers head west for Stanford Invite

MADISON, Wis. -- After opening the spring season with a victory over then-No. 12 Syracuse last weekend in New York, the Wisconsin men's rowing team jumped two spots to crack the top 10 in the latest US Coaches Rowing poll.

The No. 10 Badgers continue their difficult opening slate this weekend with a trip west for the Stanford Invite.

A two-day regatta hosted in Redwood Shores, California, the Stanford Invite consistently features several of college rowing's top teams and serves as an early test of strength, skill and toughness for the Badgers.

"This first two weeks is pretty brutal for us," head coach Chris Clark said. "I've noticed that so far this April it's been averaging 14 degrees below normal daily and it's been windy so the concept of us getting into some kind of a "groove' is non-existent."

Despite the difficulty of the Badgers' opening schedule, Clark welcomes the early-season challenges.

"I've always believed that the schedule should be as difficult as possible to forge the steel in the fires of competition and this year is no different," Clark said.

Last year's invite proved challenging for the Badgers' varsity eight, who dropped races to then-No. 2 Washington and then-No. 1 Cal before rounding out the invite with a win over Oregon State.

This weekend will serve as a re-match of last year's meet for the Badgers when they take on No. 1 Cal and Oregon State. Wisconsin will also race host team and 12th-ranked Stanford.

"Racing well-coached and peak-trained squads is a tough intro to the racing season," Clark said. "Stanford looks as good as they've been in a long time, Oregon State is always legit and Cal is ranked No. 1."

This weekend's racing is slated for a 9 a.m. start on Saturday. Wisconsin will race Stanford and Cal in Saturday's competition before wrapping up the invite with a race against Oregon State on Sunday.

Probable Lineups:

Varsity Eight
Coxswain Theodore Van Beek, Tristan Amberger, Nickolas Montalvo, Andrew Griffin, Jonah Van der Weide, Kyle McCarthy, James Bernard, Jacob Wenner, Thomas Walker

Second Varsity Eight
Coxswain Cameron Pak, John Hollow, Alexander Butler, Nathan Petersen, Kurt Mueller, William Alt, Dylan Adams, Andrew Flannery, Tyler Stevens

Third Varsity Eight
Coxswain Ian Tunney, Adam Wehking, Paul Sagraves, Samuel Williams, Caleb Sorenson, Tyler Berstein, Luke VandenHuevel, Jacob Buboltz, Christoph Bub