SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Wisconsin women's lightweight rowing team finished out the San Diego Crew Classic strong on Sunday, as both the varsity and freshmen boats competed well in their final races.

After narrowly missing out on qualifying for the top final race in the UC San Diego Health Cup, the varsity eight finished with a strong showing in the second final, taking first place with a margin of over five second on second place UC San Diego. The Badgers' winning time was 7:00.017 for 2000 meters.

The freshmen eight also had another chance to get more experience under their belts, competing in the Novice Laurel Korholz Perpetual Final, finishing in sixth place with a time of 07:30.020. The Badgers finished just behind the fourth and fifth place teams, Oklahoma and Sacramento State, respectively. Those two competitors completed in less than two seconds quicker time than Wisconsin.

The lightweight rowing team will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Camden, New Jersey, for the Knecht Cup on April 13-14.

Straight from the water
Lightweight Coach Dusty Mattison
On the varsity eight and the team
"Overall, really pleased with the weekend. It was really fun to be with the team in what was a new environment for most of them. What was really fun was seeing the sprit of the team and how intent they are in taking advantage of every opportunity to learn from every situation we were in. Going into the final, we challenged them to race from the front compared to the situation they were in during the heats where they had to fight for every tenth of a second. They commanded the race from about 250 meters in until the end of the race. They did a really nice job with execution.

"Now we really know what we need to work on heading to the Knecht Cup, where we will race pretty much our entire IRA competition. I think they are ready. They are really excited and have a good handle on where we are. Having limited water time at home this past week, it is pretty exciting to see we are in a good spot." 

Assistant Coach Karly Laney
On the freshman eight:
"The novices put together a pretty good race. It was a little bit of a rocky start, which had them down to begin with. But throughout the race they just kept on taking seats and moving up on the competition. They got beat out by just a second by Oklahoma and Sacramento State. It was really close so if they had had a better start they would have been right up there with those two crews. The freshmen came off the water really encouraged, knowing what they need to work on, and are pumped for the Knecht Cup next when they get to take on some more novices and really drop the hammer. The freshmen are in a great spot and they learned a lot this weekend."
 
San Diego Crew Classic
Apr. 7, 2019
San Diego, Calif.
2000 Meters

Women's Varsity UC San Diego Health Cup Final Two
1. Wisconsin, 7:00.017; 2. UC San Diego, 7:05.245; 3. Saint Mary's (CA), 7:08.233; 4. Fordham, 7:15.703         
UW Lineup – Coxswain Eden Rane, Grace D'Souza, Marilyn Garberg, Julia Johnson, Rachel Illgen, Tori Kost, Monica Rodriguez, Payton James, Brianna Ohm

Women's Novice Laurel Korholz Perpetual Trophy Final
1. Texas Austin, 6:59.358; 2. Washington, 7:05.076; 3. UCLA, 7:21.524; 4. Oklahoma, 7:28.294; 5. Sacramento State, 7:28.340; 6. Wisconsin, 7:30.020; 7. UC San Diego, 8:08.448         
UW Lineup – Coxswain Ellie Mallek, Sophia Krivoruchko, Kate Concannon, Sydney Novak, Lindsey Jiron, Tessa Cockerill, Lauren O'Neill, Kiera Sundeen, Ellen Pflaster