Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Row Well at Indoor Championship
2/12/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Hoosiers Row Well at Indoor Championship
Cincinnati, OH.~ On Saturday February 12, the Indiana University Women's Crew traveled to Cincinnati to compete at their first indoor rowing event of the season. The newly formed women's varsity rowing team competed against other regional powers, including University of Louisville, University of Dayton, Ohio University, Xavier and Ohio State. The event consisted of ergometer or "Erg" races 2000 meters in length. Rowers competed side-by-side on the rowing machines, with electronic television monitors clocking the progress of each competitor. In total about 500 rowers competed in the one day event.
The Hoosiers continued to be competitive in the novice
event, which was highlighted by a third place finish by freshman
Megan Gallagher. Her time of 7:29.9 was just 0.1 second behind
two Louisville athletes who tied
for 1st. Other impressive showings by the Hoosiers include 11th
and 13th place finishes by freshmen Margaret Clark and Katie
Fitzgerald, respectively. The novice rowers provided their opponents
with some stiff competition, finishing with some of the fastest
times in the category.
The varsity rowers had a chance to show off their speed and experience during the afternoon's races. Seniors Dawn Reiss and Caitlin Skinner came into the event with two of the fastest seed times. Reiss' personal best time of 7:15.4 earned her a 4th place finish. Junior Beth Lund and Skinner were the other two top 10 finishers for the Hoosiers placing 6th and 7th respectively. Overall, the varsity women placed six rowers in the top 15 of the collegiate category.
Two of the team's coxswains also competed in the weekend's
events. Despite having very little indoor rowing experience,
freshmen Katherine Campbell and Carmen Blissit decided to show
their teammates that they could
erg as well. Campbell and Blissit rowed to 7th and 8th place
finishes in the 1000-meter coxswain's race.
With Coach Wilson away for the weekend, graduate assistant
coaches Joan Rubinger and Rob McCracken had the responsibility
of guiding the team through its first indoor racing experience.
"Most people don't understand what it takes to compete
indoors. Almost all of the girls finished with PRs (Personal
Records)", explained Rubinger. "this shows that each
athlete possesses both physical and mental strength, and these
qualities help them tremendously to be faster on the water."
Next weekend, Gallagher, Reiss and Skinner will travel to
Boston to represent the Hoosiers in the C.R.A.S.H. B World Indoor
Rowing Championships. All three are hoping that the event's
tough competition will
result in personal records and top level finishes.
The team will continue to train indoors for the next several weeks until Lake Lemon thaws. They will then be back on the water for Spring Break as they finalize their preparation for the sprint season. The team will hit the ground running at the end of Spring Break with competitions on seven consecutive weekends. The season starts at home for the Hoosiers with the Sour Sprints Regatta on March 18, and ends with the Big Ten Championships on April 29 in Madison. "We can't wait to get back on the water and see what these girls can do" stated McCracken. "Everybody's looking forward to the upcoming season!"
