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MADISON, Wis. – When the Wisconsin women's lightweight rowing program opens the 2018 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships this Saturday in West Windsor, New Jersey, it will have been 34 days since the Badgers raced at Women's Sprints, their conference championships. That's four days longer than the Wisconsin football team went between last season's Big Ten Championship Game and its Orange Bowl victory over Miami.
 
That break creates some uncertainty around the country, as everyone looks to halt top-ranked Stanford's three-year hold on the lightweight eight national title. That is a long time for crews like Wisconsin to work on closing that gap.
 
"The last few weeks of training have given us the opportunity to really fine tune things technically in addition to making some tweaks with the line ups," lightweight coach Dusty Mattison. "It has been fun to see how far the whole team has come in such a short time since Eastern Sprints. Training has gone smoothly and I know they are chomping at the bit to race!"
 
In addition to Stanford, Women's Sprints eight champion and second-ranked Boston University is poised to challenge for the title.
 
UW's lightweight eight is currently set to race on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. (CT) against Stanford, Boston University, Princeton, Harvard-Radcliffe, Georgetown and MIT. The results of that will set the lanes for Sunday's national championship race.
 
Wisconsin's double sculls opens the championships for the Badgers at 7:10 a.m. against Stanford, Tulsa and Harvard-Radcliffe. The winner advances to Sunday's grand final, while the remaining crews race again in the afternoon in the repechage for a second chance to reach the title race.
 
UW's third entry is its lightweight four at 7:20 a.m. Like in the eights, Saturday's race will establish lane assignments for Sunday's national championship race.
 
Like regattas all around the country this spring, including last weekend's NCAA rowing championships, weather could again play a factor as storms are predicted in the Mercer Lake area.
 
"We raced on Mercer Lake for the Knecht Cup in early April so we know it can be somewhat unpredictable," Mattison said. "As a team we have talked about different race scenarios from perfect conditions and everything running smoothly to our races being a final only. So the team is ready for whatever comes at them."

2018 IRA National Championships
June 2-3
West Windsor, New Jersey
Mercer Lake
2000 meters

Wisconsin's Saturday Schedule
Lightweight Eight (7:30 a.m. CT – Race for Sunday's Grand Final lane assignments)
Stanford (#1 ranking), Boston University (#2), Princeton (#3), Wisconsin (#4), Harvard-Radcliffe (#5), Georgetown (#6), MIT (#7)

UW Lineup – Coxswain Anika Chatterjee, Agathe Denis, Brianna Ohm, Grace D'Souza, Jennifer Whitehill, Grace Joyce, Brianna Wynne, Kathryne Ruffalo, Rachel Illgen
 
Lightweight Four (7:20 a.m. – Race for Sunday's Grand Final lane assignments)
Georgetown, Stanford, Princeton, Boston University, Harvard-Radcliffe, MIT, Wisconsin

UW Lineup – Coxswain Rachel Yan, Mirha Girt, Claire Kelley, Payton James, Janet Titzler
 
Lightweight Double (7:10 a.m. – Winner to Sunday Grand Final, rest to Saturday afternoon repechage)
Stanford, Tulsa, Harvard-Radcliffe, Wisconsin

UW Lineup – Shannon Lipe, Marilyn Garberg