April 12, 2009
BELLEVILLE, MI – The University of Iowa women’s rowing team continued its spring season Saturday on Belleville Lake in Bellville, MI. The Hawkeyes took on the University of Michigan and Louisville Saturday morning and concluded the day with a dual against Michigan State Saturday afternoon. As of last week, Michigan and Michigan State were ranked fourth and fifth in the country, respectively, while Louisville was ranked 20th.
The Hawkeyes put together six solid races during the morning’s competition, beating Louisville in every race and coming within seconds of Michigan in all races as well. The 2N8+ boat finished 11.74 second behind Michigan in the first race with a time of 7:46.79. The 1N8+ boat then finished in a time of 7:16.59 to knock off Louisville by over a minute, but fell to Michigan by just 8.8 seconds. Iowa’s closest race came when the 2V4+ boat ran its race in 7:58.49, just 2.4 seconds behind Michigan’s A boat. Iowa’s boats 1V4+ (8:11.75) and 2V8+ (6:59.09) then finished just behind Michigan in their respective races, but beat Louisville in both. Additionally, Iowa’s 1V8+ boat fell 3.32 seconds behind Michigan in a time of 6:37.90, but beat #20 Louisville once again.
Iowa had just as much success in the afternoon dual against #5 ranked Michigan State, coming within at least eight seconds of Michigan State in four of six races and winning one. They Hawkeye’s 2N8+ boat began the afternoon with a time of 7:35.50, just 6.71 seconds behind Michigan State. The 1N8+ boat then fell just 4.07 seconds short of Michigan State in a time of 7:06.74. Iowa then picked up its first win of the weekend with the 2V4+ boat of sophomores Emily Melvold, Allison Robinson, Heidie Miller, Darcy DeLong and Meghan Clancy. The boat overtook Michigan State’s boats A and B in a time of 7:55.71. The Hawkeye’s 1V4+ boat dropped a race to Michigan State in a time of 7:54.07 before the 2V8+ boat (6:53.28) fell just 7.87 seconds behind. Iowa’s final race of the weekend was finished in a time of 6:49.07 by the 1V8+ boat, just 5.62 seconds shy of Michigan State again.
“This was a very good weekend for us,” said Head Coach Mandi Kowal. “I was really pleased with how our varsity eights put together extremely aggressive and competitive races. We all made some adjustments from last weekend, and it was nice to see them pay off for us.”
Kowal also thought this weekend’s `dog fights’ and competitive atmosphere will help them prepare for the Big Ten Championships coming up.
“We have three critical weeks to prepare for the Big Ten’s,” added Kowal. “We’re showing some speed now, and we don’t have anything fine-tuned yet, so I’m incredibly excited to watch our improvements.”
The Hawkeyes will travel to Columbus, OH, to compete in the 2009 Big Ten Championships May 2.
Morning Results
¬¬2N8+
1. Michigan 7:35.05
2. IOWA 7:46.79
¬¬1N8+
1. Michigan 7:07.79
2. IOWA 7:16.59
3. Louisville 8:33.38
¬¬2V4+
1. Michigan A 7:56.09
2. IOWA 7:58.49
3. Michigan B 7:59.94
4. Louisville 8:15.41
¬¬1V4+
1. Michigan 7:50.66
2. IOWA 8:11.75
3. Louisville 8:20.90
¬¬2V8+
1. Michigan 6:54.43
2. IOWA 6:59.09
3. Louisville 6:59.58
¬¬1V8+
1. Michigan 6:34.58
2. IOWA 6:37.90
3. Louisville 6:40.46
Afternoon Results
¬¬2N8+
1. Michigan State 7:28.79
2. IOWA 7:35.50
¬¬1N8+
1. Michigan State 7:02.67
2. IOWA 7:06.74
¬¬2V4+
1. IOWA 7:55.71
2. Michigan State A 8:14.01
3. Michigan State B 8:21.96
¬¬1V4+
1. Michigan State 7:33.39
2. IOWA 7:54.07
¬¬2V8+
1. Michigan State 6:45.41
2. IOWA 6:53.28
¬¬1V8+
1. Michigan State 6:43.45
2. IOWA 6:49.07