University of Minnesota Athletics
ROW: Gophers Finish Strong Against No. 10 Tennessee
3/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Minnesota's First Varsity Eight finished the race with a time of 6:15.76, while Tennessee clocked a time of 6:10.56. After competing in a further course distance then last week's win over Louisville, the Gophers improved on last week's time. The boat contained Megan Flannery as the coxswain, Beth Ratterman at stroke, Cheryl Wick, Jillian Casey, Vilma Stragyte, Laura Jatautaite, Lida Storch and Berit Tomten at bow.
The boat of coxswain Kristi Branigan, Jenna Buskohl at stroke, Katie Biese, Sally Olson, Andrea Pierce, Sam Wangsgard, Katie Engel, Megan Stuhlfaut and Rachel Hotkowski at bow finished second behind the Lady Vols. Tennessee chipped in a time of 6:17.18, while the Gophers finished in 6:21.42.
"We are extremely pleased with our performance in the varsity races," head coach Wendy Davis said. "We are feeling good about where our time ranks in the Big Ten and in the region." I'm very proud of our performance today."
The Varsity Four shells swept Tennessee, winning 7:01.89 to 7:13.62 in the First Varsity Four and 7:12.79 to 7:13.72 in the Second Varsity Four. The Gophers had coxswain Leah Gross, Tracey Tallman, Tina Cho, Heidi Bechtel and Shauna Frank in the First Varsity Four, while Kaja Tally, Liz Ponder, Maggie Armstrong, Jennifer Sharpe and Angela Reesman won the Second Varsity Four competition.
Minnesota's Novice Eights swept its competition as well. The Gophers First Novice Eight boat of Alanna Hjortland, Paige Hanson, Lauren Van Proosdy, Katie Simpson, Catherine Casey, Mary Ann Weinzierl, Kelsey Underdahl, Alissa Almquist and Christine O'Donnell finished with a winning time of 6:30.50. Tennessee clocked a time of 6:56.40. Minnesota's Second Novice Eight finished with a time of 6:52.00, defeating the Lady Vols' times of 7: 01.90 and 7:39.10.
The Gophers are idle next weekend, but travel to Iowa City to face the University of Iowa, April 2. The race is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
