OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – All five Wisconsin women's lightweight crews advanced to their Sunday finals at the 2018 Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Regatta on Saturday at Melton Hill Lake.

Racing against schools from the South and Midwest, the third-ranked Badger lightweights reached finals in the open eight, second varsity/lightweight eight, open four and the double sculls. UW's entry in the second varsity/lightweight eight was its frosh eight boat.

The Badgers showed their relative strength with the top time-trial time for the UW's lightweight eight in the open eight, a one-two finish in the open four, the second-fastest time in the second varsity eight race and the third-best time in the double sculls. The double sculls advanced to Sunday's final, while the remaining boats had afternoon semifinals.

In those semifinals, the balance of UW's crews advanced to Sunday finals, with three of the four winning their semifinals to reach the championship races. UW's top eight, second eight and four won their semifinals, while UW's 'B' four took second in its semifinal to advance.

Straight from the Lake
Lightweight Coach Dusty Mattison
"Today was a really fun day of racing all around. Everyone did a great job working with a format they are not that used to (time trial) and really used it as an opportunity to put down a fast time.

"We made a few lineup changes so we used that time trial as that first run together. It's fun because in head racing you get to potentially pass boats. That gave them lots of motivation and allow everyone to produce some good times. It was about 1750 to 1800 meters.

"It gave everyone some good confidence going into the semifinals where we were just able to work on different elements of the race and seeing what would be the goal going into the finals. If there was a specific spot of the race we need to work on, then we can discuss it and see how we want to change it for the next race.

"For the double, this was their third time out together, so for them it was moving together down the course. For tomorrow we definitely have some things they want to execute.

"In the fours, for the A four, they did a great job in the semifinal. They just really came together and looked very, very sharp. They were the most aggressive boat going down the course, by far. They had a really fast time going into the final.

"For the B four, they looked really aggressive coming down the course. They were right in there with some of the other openweight teams and came away with the third-fastest time heading into the final. It will be really exciting to see if we can get in the top three with both boats.

"For the freshmen, they just looked really confident coming down the course. I know they had a lot of fun. They were racing against openweight varsity crews as freshman lightweights. I think they can do really, really well tomorrow. I know they are ready to go race really hard.

"For the varsity eight, they definitely delivered in the time trial and had a lot of fun passing boats. In the semifinal, it was just a different boat and they were super aggressive racing down the course.

"That is something we've been working towards. We still have elements that we keep need to working on. The shell is there. There is no question they are racers and now it is each time down the course it is putting together a better version of what we want to do come IRAs.

"Overall a great day for the Wisconsin lightweights. The vibe was just great and the weather was amazing."

SIRA Regatta
April 21, 2018
Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Melton Hill Lake

Women's Open Eight
Semifinal 1 (Top three to A final, rest to B final)
1. Wisconsin Ltwt, 6:36.181; 2. FIT, 6:50.953; 3. Dayton, 6:59.713; 4. Nova Southeastern, 7:08.245; 5. Stetson, 7:29.798

Time Trial (Time trial – 10 entries)
1. Wisconsin Ltwt, 5:47.448; 2. Kansas State, 6:00.516; 3. Barry, 6:00.714; 4. FIT, 6:01.071
UW Lineup - Coxswain Anika Chatterjee, Agathe Denis, Brianna Wynne, Grace D'Souza, Jennifer Whitehill, Grace Joyce, Brianna Ohm, Kathryne Ruffalo, Rachel Illgen
  
Women's Open Four
Semifinal 1 (Top three to A final, rest to B final)
1. Wisconsin Ltwt A, 7:21.487; 2. FIT, 7:43.590; 3. Rollins, 7:44.590; 4. Kansas State B, 7:48.410; 5. Jacksonville, 8:09.683

Semifinal 2 (Top three to A final, rest to B final)
1. Kansas State A, 7:27.561; 2. Wisconsin Ltwt B, 7:34.461; 3. Barry, 7:38.661; 4. Nova Southeastern, 7:54.094; 5. Tampa, 8:16.952; 6. Dayton, 9:35.164

Time Trial  (All to semifinals – 11 entries)
1. Wisconsin Ltwt A, 6:32.005; 2. Wisconsin Ltwt B, 6:42.407; 3. Kansas State, 6:50.574; 4. FIT, 6:51.896

UW Lineups
A – Coxswain Rachel Yan, Claire Kelley, Mirha Girt, Janet Titzler, Payton James
B – Coxswain Rachel Schwarz, Alexandra Fochios, Marilyn Garberg, Shannon Lipe, Jacqueline Jones
 
Second Varsity Eight
Semifinal 2 (Top three to A final, rest to B final)
1. Wisconsin Ltwt Novice, 7:03.383; 2. Florida, 7:13.462; 3. Purdue, 7:26.906; 4. Clemson, 7:33.538

Time Trial (All to semifinals – 9 entries)
1. Kansas State A, 6:14.060; 2. Wisconsin Ltwt Novice, 6:14.768; 3. Florida, 6:22.337; 4. Kansas State B, 6:23.921; 5. Dayton, 6:32.812

UW Lineup - Coxswain Mya Lebakken, Julia Johnson, Sarah Stacks, Tori Kost, Kate Maguire, Delaney Toepel, Virginia Mathu, Mallory Grim, Alicia Wolf

Women's Double Sculls
Time Trial (Top 7 to A final, rest to B final)
1. Williams and Mary, 7:21.513; 2. Tampa, 7:29.311; 3. Wisconsin Ltwt, 7:32.209

UW Lineup - Madeline Rowe, Abigail Keith