Iowa Concludes Longhorn Invitational

March 21, 2010

AUSTIN, TX- The University of Iowa’s rowing team competed against Kansas State University this morning. The Hawkeyes competed in the Varsity 8’s, Varsity 4’s, Novice 8’s and Novice 4’s, down a 2000m stretch of the Lady Bird Lake. Today was the last day of the invitational and the Hawkeyes finished out strong, winning all four races against KSU. The Novice 4’s competed against Texas because KSU did not have enough athletes.

The weather in Austin was challenging for racing throughout the whole weekend and this morning the crews raced against 15 mph tailwind. The Hawkeyes started off strong in the varsity 8’s. Claiming first place, Iowa’s boat of Sheila Rinozzi, Emily Vinson, Caitlin Kuempel, Jessica Novack, Emily Katalinich, Megan Erickson, Katy Kroll, Christine Allingham and Allison Robinson finished with a time of 6:37.3, which was almost 10 seconds faster than yesterday’s time against Texas. The Hawkeyes second varsity 8 boat finished first in its heat with a time of 6:50.2.

“We finished strong on what was a unique and crazy weekend of rowing,” said Head Coach Mandi Kowal. “The conditions provided some challenging racing situations with those rowing the cleanest being the victors. We come away with a sense of what more water time will bring us and area’s we need to address.”

Iowa moved on to one boat of varsity 4’s. The boat of Dani Harris, Madeline Conklin, Kaitlyn Caffrey, Morgan Finn and Megan Clancy finished first with a time of 7:58.1 The Hawkeyes closed out the competition with the novice races. Iowa’s novice 8 boat earned first place with a time of 7:18.3. The novice 4’s boat raced against Texas and placed second with a time of 8:37.5.

“I am pleased to see what the crews were able to improve from race to race even in these adverse conditions.” added Coach Kowal. “Now it’s time to get back to work and prepare for our next multi-race weekend.”

The Hawkeyes will return to action April 3 at the Pac 10 Challenge in Stanford, CA.

Final Results

1ST Varsity 8’s 1. Iowa 6:37.3 2. KSU 6:59.1

2nd Varsity 8’s 1. Iowa 6:50.2 2. KSU 7:11.3

Varsity 4’s 1. Iowa 7:58.1 2. KSU 8:18.4

Novice 8’s 1. Iowa 7:18.3 2. KSU 7:31.1

Novice 4’s 1. Texas 8:07.6 2. Iowa 8:37.5