FAIRLEE, Vt. - Wisconsin men's rowing took on No. 6 Dartmouth and No. 16 Georgetown in the Lake Morey Invite and competed hard on Saturday. The 11th-ranked Badgers finished second in both the first varsity eight and the second varsity eight races.

Straight From The Shore
Head Coach Chris Clark

On the first varsity eight
"While we are based in Boston, everyone got up around 4 a.m. and drove up to near Hanover, New Hampshire, where Dartmouth is. It's a beautiful lake. It reminds me of Devils Lake. We showed up around 7:15 and the first eight raced at 8:10 so they had less than 20 minutes to prepare.

"If you look at the computer rankings, Dartmouth is No. 3 in the U.S. They are considered to be less than two seconds off the fastest team Yale.

"We got out with the lead and were either in the lead or close to it for the first 500, which is a great sign. That means we have a lot of speed. You could see their poise and experience in the next 500. Rowing a little lower with a little more patience and we would have gotten a little more out of it. 

"They pushed out to win by 5.9 seconds, which is excellent for us at this time of year. I thought it was an excellent performance for us and we can make a lot of improvements still."

On the second varsity eight
"The second varsity was 4.5 seconds behind, and that is impressive. We have three freshmen in there, two of them who had never rowed until September, including the stroke which is the quarterback.

"Eli Strassman from Neenah is just impressive. One of the most natural attack racers I've had in my 29 seasons. I haven't seen many people like him. 

"He has absolutely no fear and leads the entire boat. He doesn't look like a classic rower and even though at this point his technique leaves a little to be desire, he's got unlimited potential."

On the third varsity eight
"I thought our guys did quite well, but of the three boats they are the least settled and we'll keep training get exactly what we need."

Up Next: Wisconsin will make a quick turn around and return to Boston to take on Northeastern tomorrow, depending on the conditions, which are expected to be bad.

Lake Morey Invite
Saturday, April 29
Fairlee. Vermont
2000 Meters

Saturday Morning
Varsity Eight
1. Dartmouth, 5:40.21; 2. Wisconsin, 5:46.09; 3. Georgetown, 5:52.34
UW Lineup - Coxswain Jonah Rane, Aidan Schmidt, Will Klipstine, Dylan Green, Breck Duncan, Joseph Cleary, Garrison Waugh, Sebastian Murrel, Michael Horan.

Second Varsity Eight
1. Dartmouth, 5:49.25; 2. Wisconsin, 5:53.84; 3. Georgetown, 6:02.19
UW Lineup - Coxswain Grayson VanLue, Elias Strasman, Olin Frederiks, Luke Truog, Lucas Farmer, Walter Stanwood, Andrew Soman, Matthew King, Josh Wehking.

Third Varsity Eight
1. Dartmouth A, 5:51.12; 2. Dartmouth B, 5:57.59; 3. Wisconsin, 6:03.73
UW Lineup - Coxswain Henry Benton, Jack O'Brien, Ethan Dooley, Lukas Weinhold, William Leitch, Bergen Peters, Dylan Knanishu, Joshua Barth, Briggs Clarke.