University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Fall Just Short of Upsetting No. 14 UCLA
4/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
With the two 1V8 boats so close together, the referees had to rely on video to determine the winner. The Bruins jumped out a a seven- seat lead, but the Gophers were back in the race down the stretch. With 30 seconds remaining in the race, the Gophers were up by two seats, but UCLA surged ahead and narrowly defeated the Gophers. Minnesota's 1V8 consisted of Megan Flannery, Cheryl Wick at stroke, Berit Tomten, Laura Jatautaite,Vilma Stragyte, Jillian Casey, Jennifer Barnes, Erika Bartkute and Katie Biese.
Minnesota also came up short in the Second Varsity Eight race. Minnesota's 2V8 of coxswain Leah Gross, Megan Stuhlfaut, Rachel Hotkowski, Mary Ann Weinzierl, Catherine Casey, Sally Olson, Maggie Armstrong, Heidi Bechtel and Tina Cho clocked a time of 6:35.8, but UCLA won the race in a time of 6:33.5.
"Overall it was a great race," head coach Wendy Davis said. "It is early in the season and this is the reason why we race teams like UCLA. In the 1V8, our start sequence wasn't very good, but we battled back and really showed our power and our speed down the stretch. When you have two quality teams, it going to be a battle until the end. It was a race won by inches and a see-saw battle in the second half of the race."
The Gophers resume Big Ten action next Saturday as the Maroon and Gold face Ohio State and Indiana in Bloomington, Ind.
Players Mentioned
