Iowa Races Strong At Head Of The Oklahoma

Oct. 10, 2010

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa women’s rowing team competed at the Head of the Oklahoma for the first time Saturday and Sunday. The Hawkeyes competed in the collegiate 8’s, collegiate 4’s and collegiate pairs. The Hawkeyes raced against Stanford, Washington State, Texas, Oklahoma, Tulsa, Kansas, Kansas State and more.

The top 12 finishes in Saturday’s morning heats qualified for the night sprints. The first six finisher’s raced in the grand final and the last six raced in the petite final.

Iowa’s first varsity 8 boat kicked off the competition Saturday morning. The boat of Emily Melvold, Annemarie Bernhard, Katy Kroll, Cristina Pozzan, Allison Robinson, Allison Lofthouse, Erin Soadwasser, Louise Bensz and Haylie Miller raced down a 4000m course on the Oklahoma River. The boat placed fifth out of 23 crews in the event with a time of 14:18.3. The Hawkeyes went on to place fourth in the 500m grand final race (1:37.5).

“The group did a nice job getting ready for this week after a rough start, said Head Coach Mandi Kowal. “They came together in a short period of time, made some noticeable changes, and showed progress through the event.”

The first varsity 4 boat of Kendra Klaczack, Darcy DeLong, Chloe Zwiacher, Susanna Stralina and Anna Herdlein placed 13 in the morning with a time of 16:17.9. The boat qualified for the night petite final sprint and went on to place fourth with a time of 1:58.1.

“The night time sprints were exciting,” added Coach Kowal. “I am glad the groups were able to take part in this unique experience. Saturday was a long day but a very productive day.”

The Hawkeyes raced in the open collegiate pairs on Sunday and had three boats in the event. The Hawkeyes raced against 14 other crews in the event. Bensz and Haylie Miller finished second in the event with a time of 17.08. Pozzan and Robinson finished right behind in third place (17:16.1). Bernhard and Kroll finished out the race in 6th place with a time of 17.32.2.

“I was most pleased with how each group took lessons learned from earlier sessions and applied them to their second race, most notably our pairs, commented Coach Kowal. “After such a long Saturday, they came out and rowed very aggressively. One pair experienced more mishaps then we wanted with the bridges but other than that every pair was aggressive and rowed very hard. It’s definitely one of the best attacks I have seen in our pairs racing.”

Final Results (Top 2 plus Iowa)

Collegiate 8 Qualifier 1. Stanford A 13:47.2 2. Washington State A 14:04.4 5. IOWA A 14:18.3 12. IOWA B 15:01.1

Collegiate 8 Grand Final 1. Washington State A 1:31.3 2. Stanford A 1:31.4 4. IOWA A 1:37.5

Collegiate 8 Petite Final 1. Oklahoma B 1:28.2 2. Tulsa B 1:32.0 5. IOWA B 1:39.8

Collegiate 4 Qualifier 1. Texas B 15:15.1 2. Stanford A 15:31.0 13. IOWA A 16:17.9 25. IOWA B 17:29.7

Collegiate 4 Petite Final 1. Tulsa C 1:51.7 2. Kansas A 1:52.3 4. IOWA A 1:58.1

Collegiate Pairs 1. Washington State B 16:52.8 2. IOWA B 17:08.8 3. IOWA C 17:16.1 6. IOWA A 17:32.2