Iowa Competes in Notre Dame Regatta

Nov. 1, 2009

SOUTH BEND, IN- The University of Iowa’s rowing team competed at the Notre Dame Regatta on Saturday and Sunday. The Hawkeyes competed in the Varsity 4’s, Novice 8’s, and Varsity 8’s down a 4100m stretch of the St. Joseph River. The Hawkeyes faced Notre Dame, Michigan State and Indiana.

Iowa started the competition on Saturday and raced against some gusty winds. The Hawkeyes raced strong in the varsity 4’s. Coming in second, Iowa’s boat of Sheila Rinozzi, Emily Katalinich, Megan Erikson, Jessica Novack and Haylie Miller finished with a time of 14:40.8. The Hawkeyes “C” boat came in fourth with a 15:03.8, while the “D” squad placed sixth (15:15.5). Iowa’s “B” boat game in ninth with a time of 15:20.9.

“Three out of our four crews had a good row on Saturday,” said Head Coach Mandi Kowal. “The C- four accepted their challenge and proved to be “spoilers. I was proud of how they rowed.”

The Hawkeyes continued the competition on Sunday and had some great races. The first race of the day was the varsity 4’s and Iowa came in first with a time of 14:26.8 despite a collision during the race. Iowa’s “B” team took third place with a time of 15:10.1.

“As the first race of the day came down the course we learned they had a collision with the crew they were passing” added Coach Kowal. “They had to stop to get “untangled.” This situation could create quite a bit of stress and a serious disruption to your rhythm but that didn’t seem the case as we saw them rowing in the last 750m. They looked strong with a lot of power. “

Iowa moved on to novice 8’s and its earned first place with a time of 13:14.1. The Hawkeyes finished the competition on a positive note with their varsity 8 crews. Iowa’s “A” team came in second place with a time of 12:40.3, while the “B” team also took second place in their event with a time of 13:03.0. Iowa’s “A” crew came in behind Michigan State’s “A” by only five seconds and Iowa’s “B” came in behind Michigan State’s “B” by only four seconds.

“As the first three novice crews came down the final stretch they were technically doing a nice job” Coach Kowal said. “I thought our crew had good rhythm, good puddles and length which helped seal a first place finish in a strong field. That will without a doubt be a big boost heading into the winter training segment of our year. For the final races of the day, I was really proud of how aggressively the 2V8 and V8 rowed against Michigan State. Michigan State is a strong crew and is a great benchmark for us.”

“On Sunday we were happy to see each crew have a good race,” added Coach Kowal. We try to control what is happening in our boat and how we execute our race plan and, in general, it’s hard to have all boats come off the water feeling good about their race. Today every crew came off feeling good about how they raced and the boat movement they were creating. “

Final Results

Saturday

Varsity 4’s 1. Notre Dame C 14:27.8 2. Iowa A 14:40.8 4. Iowa C 15:03.8 6. Iowa D 15:15.5 9. Iowa B 15:20.9

Sunday

1st Varsity 4’s 1. Iowa A 14:26.8 2. Michigan State A 14:39.9 3. Michigan State B 14:51.5 4. Notre Dame A 14:59.2 5. Indiana A 15:11.8

Novice 8’s 1. Iowa A 13:41.1 2. Indiana A 13:46.9 3. Michigan State A 16:52.2 4. Notre Dame A 14:31.4

2nd Varsity 4’s 1. Notre Dame B 14:39.2 2. Michigan State C 14:56.9 3. Iowa B 15:10.1 4. Notre Dame C 15:12.0 5. Indiana B 15:56.0

1st Varsity 8’s 1. Michigan State B 12:58.7 2. Iowa B 13:03.0 3. Notre Dame B 13:20.8 4. Indiana B 13:43.4

2nd Varsity 8’s 1. Michigan State A 12:35.8 2. Iowa A 12:40.3 3. Notre Dame A 13:05.9 4. Indiana A 13:09.9