University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Win Second Race at Charles River Challenge
4/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
The University of Minnesota rowing team finished the Charles River Challenge with another win in the Second Varsity Eight, a second-place finish in the First Varsity Eight and the Varsity Four competition to close out the event in Boston. The raceing conditions had a 10-15 mile per hour cross headwind as the teams competed in a sprint race.
For the second-straight day, Minnesota’s 2V8 earned a win in its flight. Yesterday, the Gopher boat of Christine Beauparlant at stroke, Ellen Hughes , Leah Rogotzke , Kathryn Switalski , Katrina Pichelli , Ali Haws , Kate Ladell , Maddy Bourgeois at bow and coxswain Sara Baldvins earned a win over Radcliffe by five tenths of a second. In Sunday’s action, Minnesota cruised to a win over Louisville. In the first 750 meters of a 2,000-meter race, the Gophers and the Cardinals were even with each other. However, Minnesota held a half boat length over Louisville at the 1,000-meter mark and finished three boat lengths ahead of the Cardinals to finish in a time of 7:41.0 to their 7:51.00. Syracuse (7:57.14) and Boston University (7:57.62) finished third and fourth.
The Gopher 1V8 boat of coxswain Linnea Trandem , Cassie Drozynski at stroke, Teresa Logemann , Tracy Merth , Erika Berg , Kayla Thom , Sarah Krueger , Rachel Sartor and Molly Kalmoe at bow finished second behind Louisville. Minnesota and Louisville were even throughout most of the race, however in the last 250 meters, the Cardinals pulled ahead and sprinted to the finish for the win in 7:22.0. Minnesota crossed the line in 7:28.0, while Syracuse was third in 7:32.0 and Boston U was fourth in 7:36.00.
Minnesota also finished second in the Varsity Four B flight. The V4 of coxswain Nicolle Fisher , Alexandria Voss , Sarah Sobek, Caitlin Boon and Katie Anderson at bow finished in a time of 9:28.0, while Boston University sprinted to the finish line and came in at 9:03.0. Louisville was third in 9:34.0, followed by Syracuse in fourth (10:07.0).
“We had a good weekend of racing,” head coach Wendy Davis said. “Racing here is great because it’s all pretty close. We’re seeing crews that we don’t normally see and it helps us gauge where we are so far this season. We had some tough conditions out there, but we learned a lot.”
Minnesota is idle next weekend and will use its time to practice out on the local lakes. On May 1, the Gophers travel to Madison, Wis., to compete against the Badgers.
“This spring we’ve raced more than we’ve practiced,” Davis said. “We’re seeing vast improvements throughout the team and in the boats. We’ve got two weeks before Wisconsin and we’re excited to get on the water back in Minnesota and work on technique."
Sunday Results (conditions: 10-15 cross headwind)
Varsity 8:
Louisville 7:22.0
Minnesota 7:28.0
Syracuse 7:32.0
Boston U 7:36.0
2nd Varsity 8:
Minnesota 7:41.00
Louisville 7:51.00
Syracuse 7:57.14
Boston U 7:57.62
Varsity Four:
Boston U 9:03.0
Minnesota 9:28.0
Louisville 9:34.0
Syracuse 10:07.0
Saturday Results (conditions: 18-20 mph cross tail wind-rolling waves)
Varsity 8:
Dartmouth 6:37.7
Radcliffe* 6:45.3
Minnesota 6:51.2
Syracuse 6:54.7
2nd Varsity 8:
Minnesota 6:48.2
Radcliffe 6:48.7
Dartmouth 6:59.3
Syracuse 7:05.7
Varsity Four:
Dartmouth 7:48.9
Radcliffe 7:55.2
Syracuse 7:57.3
Minnesota 7:58.2
Players Mentioned
