Oct. 18, 2015
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa rowing team concluded its fall competition calendar with racing at the historic Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Jayhawk Jamboree in Lawrence, Kansas on Sunday.
The Hawkeyes sent two crews to the legendary Charles River course in Boston to take on some of the world’s best crews in the largest event of its kind anywhere. The 51st Head of the Charles Regatta included nearly 11,000 athletes representing over 700 programs, including several National Teams.
In the Championship Four event, Iowa’s V4+ raced to a sixth place finish overall and third among collegiate crews with a time of 18:45.673. The entry from USRowing won the event and was followed by New York Athletic Club, which was also crewed by US Team members. In the collegiate ranks, only Brown and Virginia, who finished third and first respectively at the 2015 NCAA Championship in the V4+, bested the Hawkeyes in the field of 19 crews.
“It was a really nice result for this crew,” said UI head coach Andrew Carter. “There are a couple of pretty young faces in there with two seniors providing great leadership. It’s a combination we just tried out this past week and I think they pulled it together really well in just a few days. How they tackled the course here in Boston is no surprise given how they tackled the training sessions last week. I’ll be interested to see how these four rowers do in the coming months.”
Iowa concluded Head of the Charles Regatta competition in the Women’s Championship Eight event, where the Hawkeyes finished ninth out of 32 crews with a 16:53.287 effort. Like the 4+ entry, the 8+ started deep in the field at the 23 spot but didn’t let that position deter them on the course. With less than five seconds separating sixth from ninth place, the Hawkeyes put themselves squarely in the top end of the world-class field.
“Like the 4+, the 8+ has a good mixture of under and upper-classwomen,” said Carter. “They were a bit conservative to the first marker at the Riverside Boat Club, which cost them against a really strong field, but certainly did a nice job on the Powerhouse Stretch to make up for it. With their final sprint being on par with the top-end of the field, the difference really came down to their speed on the challenging ‘Big Curve’ section of the course. I think (coxswain) Katie Brown held a beautiful line around that turn but we had a bit of a lull in our speed there and that made the difference. Overall, though, that’s a race the crew can be really proud of. I know I’m proud of them.”
The results for both the Championship 8+ and Championship 4+ are the best recorded for Iowa in the history of the Varsity Women’s Team and it’s a mark that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the coaches.
“I think this regatta was a great platform. Being here and performing the way we did does a couple of things. First, it provided a great level of motivation for the students on our team. They see themselves racing with some of the country’s best and doing so in a place they haven’t been before. To be right in the thick of it with those top-notch programs adds a lot of fuel to their fire as they look forward to the next phase of our preparations.”
“Another area is that it’s great exposure to how we’re doing as a program. I think we’ve begun to hit our stride with the systems and direction I put in place two years ago. The Big Ten is so incredibly strong and to be in that mix today speaks well of not only those systems and that direction, it speaks well of these women for how they’ve adapted and contributed. The kind and positive feedback we’ve received from supporters and rivals alike has been very positive and it makes you proud to be a Hawkeye.”
Meanwhile, at the University of Kansas, the majority of the Iowa squad took on competition from KU, Kansas State, Tulsa, and Creighton at the Jayhawk Jamboree. Crews raced in multiple events on the 4km course with the Hawks field crews in the 2x, N8+, N4+, V4+, and V8+ races. With the 1V8+ and 1V4+ regulars in Boston, the 2V8+ members all jumped up a level, representing Iowa as the Varsity in both the V8+ and V4+ events.
The top novice crew led the way for Iowa, winning the N8+ event with an effort of 16:18.79. The Hawkeyes bested runner-up Kansas crew by eight seconds and third-place finisher Kansas State by 10. Iowa’s second novice crew followed with a fourth place result, ahead of nine crews in the event..
The Hawkeyes continued to compete well in the V4+, earning a runner-up result and besting the top crews from Kansas and KSU, and Creighton. Additional Iowa crews in the event, posted seventh and eighth place finishes in a field of 24 competitors.
Iowa also earned a top three finish in a competitive V8+ race. First place Kansas and runner-up Tulsa edged the Hawkeye boat by only 4.27 and 6.79 seconds, respectively.
Additional Hawkeye results at the Jamboree include fourth, seventh, and eighth place finishes in the N4+ event and a fourth by the 2x.
“Getting the opportunity to race both our first eight and first four in Boston and race the next group of our squad in Kansas was really great,” assistant coach Julie Quoss, who traveled to Kansas, said. “Having the ability to bring the next grouping up in Kansas really helped show our depth and our strengths this year.
“Helping the women who are generally not in the first eight and giving them the chance to represent in that event will help us. They handled themselves well, and we are proud of the depth and the training they have put forth so far this season.”
Lineups (crews listed in order of finish):
Head of the Charles
Championship 4+
1V4+: Gemma Kerr, Jessica Streur, Ashley Duda, Rebecca Thompson, Ellen Cranberg (coxswain)
Championship 8+
1V8+: Beth Baustian, Hannah Hawks, Cristy Hartman, Claire Benschoter, Kaelynn Heiberg, Izabella Dolba, Zoe Ribar, Nina Hendriks, Kathryne Brown (coxswain)
Jayhawk Jamboree
Collegiate Women’s 2-
2x-: Baillie McCunn, Ashlynn Bauer
Collegiate Novice Women’s 8+
1N8+: Morgan Schlee, Andjela Milenkovic, Lou Krieger-Coen, Emma Moores, Sarah Honken, Alysson Wittmeyer, Sydney Foster, Rachel Canon, Georgia Sanderson (coxswain)
2N8+: Britney Spack, Kyla Dickey, Kodi Marks, Jenna Ringsdorf, Samantha McElwain, Katherine Frye, Dacia Lipkea, Samantha Moore, Logan Jones (coxswain)
Collegiate Women’s 4+
1V4+: Hannah Bristowe, Lauren Subler, Morgan Grastorf, Madeline Anglin, McKinzie Cowley (coxswain)
2V4+: Bianca DiBellonia, Kat Tillman, Sarah Powell, Victoria Bricker, Rachel Chambers (coxswain)
3V4+: Denika Kelsall, Danielle Bender, Zora Marinkovich, Skylar McSorley, Faith Wieland (coxswain)
Collegiate Novice Women’s 4+
1N4+: Morgan Schlee, Andjela Milenkovic, Dacia Lipkea, Emma Moores, Georgia Sanderson (coxswain)
2N4+: Lou Krieger-Coen, Rachel Valentine, Sydney Foster, Rachel Canon, Marija Pritchard (coxswain)
3N4+: Hannah Gruenwald, Paige Schlapkohl, Delanie Murphy, Amanda Finnegan, Elizabeth Pritchard
Collegiate Women’s 8+
1V8+: Bianca DiBellonia, Victoria Bricker, Sarah Powell, Lauren Subler, Morgan Grastorf, Kat Tillman, Hannah Bristowe, Madeline Anglin, McKinzie Cowley
