University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Rowing Defeats UCLA In Varsity Eight Action
4/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The University of Minnesota rowing team defeated the UCLA Bruins in Varsity Eight action today in a dual meet at Lake Phalen in St. Paul, Minn. The Gophers won the First Varsity Eight race with a time of 6:50.1. The Gophers beat the Bruins by 10 seconds, who ended the race in 6:40.2.
Minnesota's winning boat of coxswain K atherine Nelson, J ackie Gagner, A mber Riopel, H eidi Rose, M elissa Roche, S am Wangsgard, J ill Peters, J essi Johnson in the No. two seat and K irsten Kosloske at bow won by a full boat length over UCLA.
The Maroon and Gold fell to UCLA in the novice race, which was the first event of the day. The Gophers' First Novice Eight team of Kristi Branigan, Katie Biese, Colleen Brown, Meghan Johnson, Caitlin Dowden, Katie Engel, Kiley Theede, Jackie Oeth and Megan Stuhlfaut came in second, just two seconds behind UCLA's winning boat. The Bruins clocked a 7:15.0 to the Gophers' time of 7:17.34. Minnesota's Second Novice Eight shell of Emily Capen, Stephanie Volberding, Shelby Williams, Julie Huyck, Therese Hrncirik, Anja Kroll, Ashford Kroll, Jen Plaza and Kari Larson at bow came finished in third with a time of 7:46.6.
UCLA only competed in the Varsity and Novice Eight races, but Minnesota held a Varsity Four race against each other. Minnesota's winning boat of Leah Gross, B eth Ratterman, A ngela Hedin, A ndrea Pierce and M ariel Gartner won the race in 7:34.4. The other Varsity Four boat consisted coxswain Catie Hill, Jenna Buskohl at stroke, Sarah Reed, Janette Gustafson, and Casey Christensen finished the race in 7:36.6 for second.
The Gophers will head to Columbus, Ohio to participate in the Big Ten Championships, May 3., hosted by Ohio State. Minnesota will compete against four ranked teams in the conference championships. Michigan is ranked fifth in the nation, followed by No. 10 Michigan State, No. 11 Ohio State and No. 16 Iowa.
Minnesota held a boat dedication after the race, which honored Mary Lynn Wrye, a supporter of the Minnesota rowing program. The boat named "Mary Lynn" was dedicated to the former Stanford rower Wrye. Head coach Wendy Davis coached her while at Stanford. Wrye, one of the first employees of Yahoo.com, is currently studying photography in Londo
