Iowa Heads to Austin for Longhorn Invitational

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The 13th-ranked University of Iowa women’s rowing team will travel to Austin, Texas, to take part in the Longhorn Invitational. The invitational field consists of No. 16 Indiana, No. 11 Southern California, Notre Dame, No. 10 Virginia, No. 4 Texas, No. 18 Oregon State, No. 20 Oklahoma, and the Hawkeyes. The event will take place on April 27 and last all day.

rowing graphicFOLLOW ALONG
Liveresults will be posted on Twitter @Iowarowing following each event. Texas will be utilizing HereNow for the race timing at this link: https://herenow.com/results/#/races. 

B1G BOAT OF THE WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s rowing team earned Boat of the Week honors for the first varsity eight (1V8) performance at the Big Ten Double Dual on Saturday, April 13. The dual marked the first time the Hawkeyes had competed at home since the 2016 season. 

Iowa’s 1V8 boat includes two 2018 CRCA All-Americans (Contessa Harold and Hunter Koenigsfeld) and three U23 National Team camp selections (Hannah Greenlee, Harold, and Koenigsfeld). Other members of the boat include Eve Stweart (U23 Dutch National Team), Naomi Visser, Katie Pearson, Elena Waiglein, Paige Schlapkohl, and coxswain Logan Jones.

RANKINGS
The Hawkeyes have been ranked for 25 consecutive weeks– the program’s longest streak in school history. The streak capped last season at No. 7 on April 18, 2018. This season, Iowa has been ranked at No. 12, 13, and 14.  

WEEKEND CANCELATION
Due to severe weather, the University of Iowa women’s rowing team’s races against then 6th-ranked Brown and 14th-ranked Harvard were canceled due to high winds and thunderstorms in the forecast on the Seekonk River in Providence, R.I. The coaches called all three days of competition and the Hawkeyes refrained from travel.

LAST TIME OUT
The Hawkeyes faced No. 11 Wisconsin and Minnesota on Lake MacBride in adverse conditions. The environment provided challenges like brisk 31-degree starting temperatures in the morning session, peak 10 mile-per-hour winds during the afternoon session, and white-capping waves during both sessions. Subtle winds rocked the water in the early hours and picked up aggressively as the day progressed. 

RECAP: I VARSITY EIGHT – Iowa but on a display in the 1V8 boat, placing first in both events. The Hawkeyes finished a solid 7.5 second up on the No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers in the morning racing. The Varsity took a similar approach against Minnesota in the afternoon, coming out swinging. With only a boat-length lead at 1500m, the Hawkeyes laid down an aggressive finish to stretch the margin out to nearly five seconds, posting the fastest time on the course for the day.

RECAP: II VARSITY EIGHT – In the opener against Wisconsin, the Hawkeyes jumped out to an early lead and crossed the mid-way point with a half boat-length ahead of the Badgers. The Hawkeyes fell behind at the 1500m mark, inevitably finishing second. Iowa fell victim to poor circumstance in the afternoon with the officials using a “quick start” procedure. Iowa clawed back to get on terms with Minnesota by the 500m mark, but the effort took its toll and the crew wasn’t able to sustain pace. Minnesota finished with the one-length lead.
RECAP: I VARSITY FOUR – This crew was able to get out to a good start against Wisconsin, but the Badgers pulled away in the second 500m. Wisconsin was able to take advantage of the lead and stretched it over the second half of the course, finishing with a solid lead over the Hawkeyes.  Iowa was caught off guard by the start in the afternoon and gave up a significant margin to the Gophers early.  Once in front, Minnesota took full advantage of being out of sight and grew their lead over the full course finishing with a commanding lead.

RECAP: II VARSITY FOUR – Despite strong starts in every boat, the 2V4 could not keep pace with a strong Wisconsin crew.  The crew had trouble finding traction in the second leg of the day, falling behind the Gophers early and never recovered.

RECAP: I NOVICE EIGHT – The crew opened their first competition of the season with an unexpected victory by seven seconds over the favored Badgers in the morning session. The crew struggled early in the rough conditions against Minnesota and gave up close to a boat-length to the Gophers in the first half of the course.  Minnesota wasn’t able to stretch the lead any further but maintain edtheir lead to finish.

RECAP: II NOVICE EIGHT – The II Novice Eight opened competition this season against both the Gophers and Badgers. The crew fell behind both teams early and finished in the third position, but made significant gains in the afternoon, racing much closer with Wisconsin and Minnesota. They were not able to close the gap and again crossed the line in third position.

3 HAWKEYES SELECTED FOR U23 NATIONAL TEAM CAMP
Three University of Iowa junior rowers – Hannah Greenlee, Contessa Harold, and Hunter Koenigsfeld — have been invited to the U23 World Rowing Championship Team selection camp in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

Selected athletes will travel to the University of Virginia to train with head coach Kevin Sauer for a chance to participate in the 2019 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, July 24-28 in Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The 2018-19 roster is composed of athletes from eight different states and five different countries. Iowa leads the roster with 20 athletes from the home state, followed by border neighbors Illinois (6) and Minnesota (3). 

Newcomers holding a promising future for the program include 19 freshman on the 2018-19 squad. The team retained nine sophomores, eight juniors, and has 10 seniors returning for their final season. In addition, the roster includes one athlete on their fifth year of eligibility. 

The roster also includes several international athletes from Canada, Netherlands, Serbia, and England. 

UP NEXT
Iowa enters the postseason with the Big Ten Championships on May 19 at Devils  Lake, Wisconsin. 

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