April 29, 2015
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THIS WEEK:
The University of Iowa women’s rowing team travels to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Saturday to take on Tennessee and Central Florida. Racing is set to begin at 8 a.m. (CT).
RACE STRUCTURE:
The full day of racing will take place on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and will begin at 8:30 a.m. (CT) on Saturday morning with the 1V8+ from Oklahoma, UCF, and Iowa. Racing will be held in 20-minitue intervals, with all three teams racing together.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION:
Tennessee competed in two days of racing at the Clemson Invite on April 18-19. The Lady Volunteers’ N8+, V8+, and V4+ crews finished fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively. Tennessee’s fastest crew was its 1V8+ that finished with a time of 6:52.3.
Central Florida hosted Old Dominion, Nova Southeastern and Miami in a home regatta on April 25. The team collected first place finishes in the 2V4+, 1V4+, 2V8+, and 1V8+ events on their home course. After closing out Saturday’s home regatta with a first-place finish, UCF’s 1V8+ was named the American Athletic Conference Boat of the Week for the second time this season (last on March 24).
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LAST TIME OUT:
Iowa put together a solid day of racing against host Kansas, defending Big 12 Champion Oklahoma, and No. 8-ranked Wisconsin at the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge in Kansas City, Kansas, on April 24. The Hawkeyes earned 10 victories against Kansas and six wins over Oklahoma. Iowa competed in 12 races over two sessions, finishing first in five contests and runner-up in six additional sprints. The Hawkeyes raced with excellent conditions on Wyandotte County Lake throughout the day, with light drizzle and calm water in the morning and a light tailwind in the afternoon. Predictions warned of severe weather for the afternoon duals so a compressed, modified program was used that had all four teams contesting each boat class together.
Nina Hendriks, Zoe Ribar, Morgan Grastorf, Lauren Subler, Jessica Streur, Cristy Hartman, Hannah Hawks, and Beth Baustian kept focused on the calls from coxswain, Katie Brown, and countered each move the Kansas crew made. At the finish, 8.8 seconds separated the two crews with the Hawkeyes once again topping their Big 12 opponent to bring the Iowa’s morning session record to a perfect 5-0 against Kansas. Iowa ended the morning in second place with 44 points, just two points behind No. 8 Wisconsin, 21 points ahead of Oklahoma, and 22 points ahead of Kansas. The varsity eights closed the day in impressive fashion for the Hawkeyes, remaining undefeated against the Big 12. The 2V8+ finished just 11 seconds behind Big Ten foe Wisconsin. The 1V8+ got off the line with Wisconsin, but the Badgers began their push before the 500-meter mark. The Hawkeyes battled to close the gap against a powerful and well-prepared Wisconsin crew, but each move from the Badgers yielded slightly more of a lead. Iowa finished the day in second place with 112 points. Wisconsin took first with 142, Oklahoma collected a third place finish with 73 points, and host Kansas rounded out the competition with 44 points.
BIG TEN ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS:
This year, BTN will televise the Big Ten Rowing Championships from Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis on Sunday, May 24 at 5 p.m. (CT). No. 1 Ohio State, the two-time defending national champion, will fight for its third-consecutive Big Ten title.
IN THE RANKINGS:
Iowa continues to receive votes in the CRCA/US Rowing Coaches Poll. The Hawkeyes continue to gain new votes after their performance against Kansas and Oklahoma, bringing the total to nine. The Black and Gold are also ranked fifth in Region Four of the NCAA Regional Rankings.
NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
Region Four
1 Ohio State
2 Wisconsin
3 Indiana
4 Michigan
5 Iowa
6 Minnesota
AN ELITE INVITATION:
Sophomore Morgan Grastorf — a member of the 1V8+ crew — was invited to attend the 2014 USRowing Women’s Pre-Elite Camp in Princeton, New Jersey. The camp, which began on June 8 and continued through June 22, grooms up-and-coming rowers for the national teams and is a great honor in the rowing realm. Grastorf was one of eight freshmen and one of 16 student-athletes selected to attend the camp.
ALL-AMERICAN DEBUT:
Sophomore Morgan Grastorf ended her first year as a rower on a high note, as she was named to the 2014 Pocock All-America Second Team. She is the third rower to earn an All-America award at Iowa since 2006. Grastorf also earned Collegiate Rowing Coaches Associations (CRCA) recognition as a first team All-Central Region pick and was selected to attend the USRowing Women’s Pre-Elite Camp in Princeton, New Jersey. She was a successful basketball player at Waubonsie Valley High School in Naperville, Illinois and was recruited to row by the Hawkeyes without prior sport experience.
B1G CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS:
The Hawkeyes finished seventh at the 2014 Big Ten Championship at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, Indi- ana. The 2N8 (7:44.997), 1N8 (7:28.030), 3V4 (8:21.787), 2V4 (7:55.662) and 2V8 (7:00.950) crews placed sixth in the championship regatta, while the 1V8 finished seventh (6:53.982). After the competition, junior Zoe Ribar earned first team All-Big Ten recognition, junior Lauren Subler earned second team All-Big Ten honors and senior Gabrielle Watson received Iowa’s Sportsmanship Award.
CRCA AWARDS ROUNDUP:
Six members of the UI rowing program earned Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) recognition in 2014. Sophomore Morgan Grastorf earned first team All-Central Region recognition, while juniors Madeline Anglin (nursing) and Katie Brown (psychology) and seniors Mackenzie Norton (international studies – development), Destinee Gwee (biochemistry) and Gabrielle Watson (speech and hearing science) were named CRCA Scholar Athletes. All-Region selections were evaluated on the strength of their team’s regional finish, coach recommendations and 2,000-meter erg score. Scholar Athletes owned a 3.5 cumulative grade point average, raced in 75 percent or more of competitions and were in their second, third or fourth year of eligibility. Norton and Watson were also honored as Scholar Athletes a season ago.
CLASSROOM SUCCESS:
Sixteen rowing student-athletes — a program most since 2011 — were named Academic All-Big Ten for their dedication in the classroom following the 2014 season. Honorees had to have a 3.0 cumulative grade point average and be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at Iowa. Juniors Madeline Anglin (nursing), Claire Benschoter (nursing interest), Katie Brown (psychology), Nina Hendriks (mathematics), Skylar McSorley (speech and hearing science), Zoe Ribar (human physiology), Jessica Streur (English) and Lauren Subler (human physiology); seniors Brianna Achs (journalism and mass communications), Alyssa Armstrong (leisure studies), Beth Baustian (health and human physiology), Destinee Gwee (biochemistry/Asian languages and literatures), Mackenzie Norton (international studies/economics) and Gabrielle Watson (speech and hearing science); and Iowa graduates Sarah Bartlett (psychology) and Laura Hallman (interdepartmental studies) were recognized.
HEAD COACH Andrew Carter:
Andrew Carter was named the third head coach in program history for the University of Iowa rowing program in July 2013. In his first season at the helm, Carter helped the Hawkeyes attract the attention of the rowing community and receive votes in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA)/USRowing Coaches Poll throughout the season. Freshman Morgan Grastorf — who began the season as a novice — garnered Pocock All-America Second Team and All-Central Region First Team recognition. She was also invited to attend the 2014 USRowing Women’s Pre-Elite Camp in June, which grooms up-and-coming rowers for the national teams. Following the Big Ten Championship, sophomore Zoe Ribar was named first team All-Big Ten, sophomore Lauren Subler was named second team All-Big Ten and junior Gabrielle Watson received Iowa’s Sportsmanship Award.
The 2V4 crew of junior Rachel Crosley, freshman Kasia Gniatczyk, freshman Bec Clayton, sophomore Skylar McSorley and sophomore coxswain Rachel Chambers were recognized as Big Ten Boat of the Week following their first place result in the season opening regatta at Clemson. It marked Iowa’s first weekly conference honor since April 15, 2008 and just the second boat of the week nod for Iowa all-time. The Hawkeyes performance at Tennessee in the regular season finale highlighted the year, as Iowa defeated the Lady Vols in all five events of the regatta for the sweep. Iowa closed out 2014 with a seventh place finish at the Big Ten Championship at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Hawkeyes also excelled in the classroom with five earning CRCA Scholar Athlete honors and 16 receiving Academic All-Big Ten recognition. Mackenzie Norton and Skylar McSorley (4.0) were also named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars. During his coaching career, Carter has earned more than 50 championship medals, and over the last 13 years, he has coached eight All-Americans and 29 National Scholar-Athletes. Before becoming a Hawkeye, he turned Miami into a nationally-ranked program, and led Clemson to its first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference title and NCAA Championship appearance.
CRCA/USROWING COACHES POLL
Women’s NCAA Division I Rankings
1 Ohio State University
2 University of California, Berkeley
3 University of Virginia
4 University of Washington
5 Brown University
6 Stanford University
7 Washington State University
8 Princeton University
9 University of Wisconsin
10 Yale University
11 University of Texas
12t Indiana University
12t University of Michigan
14 Harvard-Radcliffe University
15 University of Southern California
16 Syracuse University
17 University of California, Los Angeles
18 Oregon State University
19 University of Notre Dame
20 Cornell University
Other Receiving Votes: Gonzaga (43), Minnesota (22), Louisville (16), San Diego (9), Iowa (9), Pennsylvania (1), Northeastern (1).
FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES:
A member of the Iowa rowing staff will offer interactive Twitter content live at every regatta this season via @iowarowing. This feature gives Hawkeye fans the opportunity to stay up to date on the latest news and scores during every regatta.
Web Address: hawkeyesports.com (check the schedule page for live stats and live streams)
Facebook: facebook.com/IowaWomensRowing
Twitter: twitter.com/iowarowing
UP NEXT:
The Hawkeyes head to Indianapolis, Indiana to compete in the Big Ten Championships on May 16 at Eagle Creek Park. Races will begin at 5 p.m. (CT). This year, BTN will televise the Big Ten Rowing Championships on Sunday, May 24 at 5 p.m. (CT).
