Hawkeyes To Race In Front Of Home Crowd

Oct. 27, 2010

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Head of the Iowa Event Page

THIS WEEK: The University of Iowa women’s rowing team will race in front of its home crowd Sunday as it hosts the Head of the Iowa. Races will begin at approximately 10:00 a.m.

THE RACE: In Sunday’s regatta, hosted by the University of Iowa, rowers will race down a 2.5 mile stretch of the Iowa River. The Hawkeyes will place competitors in the women’s varsity 8’s, women’s varsity 4’s and women’s pairs.

LIVE STATS: For live results from your computer or smart phone, visit http://www.powerhousetiming.com/

LAST EVENT: The University of Iowa women’s rowing team competed at the Head of the Oklahoma for the first time Oct. 10 and 11. 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.

Iowa’s first varsity 8 boat kicked off the competition. 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).

HOME OF THE HAWKEYES: The P. Sue Beckwith, M.D., Boathouse was dedicated September 18, 2009. The new state of the art facility for the Hawkeyes is located within the city of Iowa City’s Terrell Mill Park, next to the Iowa River.

It is an ideal site to fulfill all the needs of the rowing team. More efficient boat storage racks, an indoor rowing tank, and an ergometer room (for machine rowing) is incorporated in the building.

HEAD COACH: Mandi Kowal is in her 17th 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.

QUOTING COACH KOWAL: “It means a lot to the student-athletes to be here and to race in front of their friends and family, said Head Coach Mandi Kowal. “We have amazing family following and it doesn’t matter where we are in the country, they are there. So for the athletes I’m really happy because its their home water and they get to race on it and not everyone gets that chance.”

“I encourage people to come down. It’s a different and fun event. The big event is at 10 a.m. with the women’s varsity 8, so come down and see that. The men’s 8 is before, so you can see the difference between the two events. It’s going to be a lot fun and there a lot of fun things to do at City Park”