April 4, 2014
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Editor’s Note: The following first appeared in the University of Iowa’s Hawk Talk Daily, an e-newsletter that offers a daily look at the Iowa Hawkeyes, delivered free each morning to thousands of fans of the Hawkeyes worldwide.
By JIL PRICE
hawkeyesports.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa rowing program and first-year head coach Andrew Carter got off to a promising start in the season-opener hosted by Clemson on March 22 and are looking to continue its success this weekend.
The Hawkeyes competed against No. 18 Clemson, No. 20 Duke, Kansas and Purdue in the opener. Iowa defeated Duke — who finished third at the ACC Championships a year ago — in 2-of-3 NCAA events, and narrowly missed wins over Clemson crews — who finished second in the ACC Championships in 2013.
The 2V8+ finished runner-up with a time of 6:56.42 after being edged out by No. 18 Clemson (6.56.00) by less than one second. The 1V4+ event was also a tight race between the two teams, as the Tigers won the event (7:37.80) and the Hawkeyes finished second (7.38.70). Iowa also placed second in the 1N/3V8+ with a time of 7:18.02 and third in 1V8+ with a 6:55.18 effort.
“I think most importantly it shows the team something,” Carter said. “This group of women and those who have come before them at Iowa have trained hard and what they’ve struggled with is getting a return on that investment. They’re finally starting to get some return on their investment and it is creating some momentum. It’s helping them buy in more, helping them believe in themselves and helping them believe in the system. Hopefully, we’re going to see that snowball.”
Iowa earned its first Big Ten Boat of the Week (2V4+) nod since April 15, 2008. Junior Rachel Crosley, freshman Kasia Gniatczyk, freshman Bec Clayton, sophomore Skylar McSorley and sophomore coxswain Rachel Chambers competed for Iowa in the 2V4+ boat. The group placed first with a 7:40.600 effort, besting the runner-up Kansas crew by nearly 12 seconds (7:52.500). Duke (7:56.570), Clemson A (7:57.660) and Clemson B (8:39.440) rounded out the event placing third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Carter is pleased with the Hawkeyes’ effort in training, preseason and in the first event of the season. He is excited to see where goes from here.
“(Our first competition) was pretty successful,” Carter said. “We’ll start to have a clearer picture of where we’re at after we’ve competed against some crews that we race against. We’ll see them cross over with other programs that have historically been strong.”
The Hawkeyes return to action at the San Diego Crew Classic, April 5-6. The annual event includes approximately 4,400 athletes from more than 125 universities, clubs and high schools from the United States. Athletes, ranging in age from 14-84 years, compete in more than 100 races in various divisions.
UI rowing fans can access the live stats, live stream, event schedule, and other information at the Crew Classic’s website at crewclassic.org.