March 13, 2006
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THIS WEEK: The University of Iowa rowing team will be in Austin, TX, this weekend to race at the sixth-annual Longhorn Invitational. The Hawkeyes will compete Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday morning.
THE RACE: All races will be held on Town Lake in Austin. The varsity Hawkeye rowers will be competing in the varsity eight races. The novice squad will be racing in the novice eight and novice four races.
EARLIER COMPETITION: Iowa will race against boats from Duke, Kansas State, Miami, Texas and Wisconsin at the Longhorn Invitational. Some of the competing teams faced off during the fall 2005 season. Duke (16) finished just one place above Iowa (17) in the varsity eight race at the Head of the Charles. The novice eight boat from Kansas State earned first place at the Head of the Iowa. Wisconsin finished third in that race and Iowa came in 14th. In the Rivanna Romp varsity eight race, Wisconsin finished second, Texas sixth and Miami eighth. Wisconsin’s varsity eight boat ended the spring 2005 season ranked 11th in the CRCA/USRowing polls.
LAST TIME OUT: The Hawkeye rowers began their spring season last weekend with an exhibition against Wisconsin. Iowa completed several scrimmage-format races in order to prepare for upcoming spring competition. Iowa’s last formal races were at the Head of the Iowa last October. Iowa A finished fourth in the Open Eight and Iowa B finished 10th. The Hawkeyes had four boats in the Novice Eight race. In the Open Pair, the team of senior Lydia McGee and freshman Kat Davy-Traynor finished in 17:24 and placed third. Freshman Laura Kanaris had the Hawkeyes best overall finish of the day when she placed second in the Open Single with a time of 18:18.
HEAD COACH: Mandi Kowal is in her 12th year as head coach of the Hawkeyes. In the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Rowing Championships, she coached the Varsity 4+ teams to fourth and eighth-places finishes, respectively. Kowal began her rowing career at the University of Wisconsin in 1981. She was a two-time rowing World Champion in the Women’s Lightweight 4- (1986-1987). She was named Female Athlete of the Year in 1987 by the US Rowing Association and was inducted into the United States Rowing Hall of Fame in 1997.