University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Rowing Finishes Eighth Overall at Regional Sprints
5/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Minnesota's Varsity Four finished second in the B Final behindMichigan State. Minnesota's team of of coxswain Leah Gross, Colleen Brown, Caitlin Dowden, Meghan Johnson at Megan Stuhlfaut finished the race with a time of7:48.6,but the Spartans clocked a time of 7:47.3 to win the race. Virginiawon the Grand Final with a time of 7:33.1.
For the first time in Golden Gopher history, Minnesota had itsSecondVarsity Eight earn a spot in the regional Grand Final. TheGophers finished sixth in the event with a time of 6:58.8 Virginiawon the race with a time of 6:44.5, while Big Ten ChampionMichiganplaced second with a time of 6:49.5. The Gopher shell containedcoxswain Kristi Branigan,Jenna Buskohl, Cheryl Wick, Jillian Casey, Sarah Reed, ErikaBartkute, Katie Biese, Lida Storch and Mariel Gartner at bow.
The Gophers' First Varsity Eight faced tough competition in the BFinal, placing third overall. Minnesota's team of coxswain Katherine Nelson, Jackie Gagner, Melissa Roche,Sam Wangsgard,Vilma Stragyte, Heidi Rose, Andrea Pierce, Beth Ratterman andJill Peters chipped in a time of 6:54.0. However,Michigan State and Notre Dame added times of 6:49.9 and6:51.3 totake the top two spots.
"This weekend really goes to show how much our program hascome alongin the past few years," head coach Wendy Davis said." OurSecondVarsity Eight finished dead last a couple years ago and now theyaremaking the finals. It was our best performance so far at theregionals and I'm very pleased with the outcome."
1 Virginia* 4042 Ohio State# 3913 Wisconsin 3634 Michigan 3625 Michigan State 3036 Notre Dame 295 Tennessee 2958 Minnesota 2649 Texas 25210 Iowa 209* Virginia wins South Region and overall titles# Ohio State wins Central Region titleVarsity Four B Final1 Michigan State 7:47.32 Minnesota 7:48.63 Central Florida 7:59.84 Tennessee 8:02.55 Texas 8:16.1Second Varsity Eight A Final1 Virginia 6:44.52 Michigan 6:49.53 Michigan State 6:50.64 Wisconsin 6:50.95 Ohio State 6:51.66 Minnesota 6:58.8First Varsity Eight B Final1 Michigan State 6:49.92 Notre Dame 6:51.33 Minnesota 6:54.04 Iowa 6:54.45 Duke 6:56.66 Kansas 7:05.4
