Indiana University Athletics
Crew Hits Lake Lemon for the First Spring Meet
3/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
March 20, 2001
Crew Hits Lake Lemon Against Louisville for the First Spring Meet
Meet Data
After over four months off, the Indiana Crew looks to get back onto the water for their first spring race of the season. The Louisville Cardinals come to Lake Lemon for a dual sprint on Saturday March 24 at 10:00 a.m.
Mark Wilson's Ledger
Coach Wilson leads the Hoosiers in its second varsity season after acting as the club coach prior to the team being granted varsity status. This year looks to be promising as many of the rowers have at least one year of Division I experience and a better preparation for what lies ahead. His rowers have already claimed numerous victories in multiple events in just four regattas so far this season.
Coming off a successful fall head season, Coach Wilson hopes to equal that success with a challenging sprint season and several home dates.
Quoting Coach Wilson
"We have just returned from a very productive spring break training trip and we are getting ready for the first weekend of real competition. Louisville is a similar program to IU as they are in their second year of racing and did very well last year and so we are looking forward to good racing this weekend."
"Everyone is excited about the opportunity to race on the home course at Lake Lemon. We have been working hard to get our race course ready and with the cooperation of the Lake Lemon Conservancy, we have developed a great site. This will be the first official 2000-meter race on the lake and it should be a great opportunity for the rowers from IU."
"The team has been working hard and we are getting prepared for some higher rating strokes and good starts but at this time of year we want to be strong through the water and have our coxswains go straight. That will be the goal for the day."
Scouting the Competition
Just like Indiana, Louisville is beginning their second spring of varsity competition in the water. U of L has a very young team, but it is one that is very talented. The Cardinal crew recently wrapped up a week of spring training with a dual race against Duke last Saturday in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The varsity 8 placed second of three, the varsity 4 placed fourth of four, and the novice 8 finished third of three.
All the Fall That's Fit to Print
Crew Rows Well at the Head of the Eagle
The IU women's crew squad traveled to Indianapolis for the Head of Eagle Regatta on a beautiful autumn day at Eagle Creek. The Hoosiers competed against the University of Louisville, University of Cincinnati, University of Wisconsin, Drake, Butler, John Carroll, Cleveland State and Purdue.
The Hoosiers continued their early season success at the regatta. The Hoosiers started the day with a second and third place finish in the varsity eight. The second place Hoosiers finished 32 seconds behind a strong Wisconsin team.
"I really wanted to send a message that we had some depth at the varsity level today, finishing second and third helped, but obviously winning is better," said Coach Mark Wilson. The rowers in the varsity A boat were Katy Ostertag, Amy Roble, Eliza Peoples, Jo McCallister, Beth Lund, Meg Gallagher, Emily Rumschlag, Erin Koers and coxed by Mary Hubbard. The varsity B boat was rowed by Jess Tapola, Erin Punter, Angie Langreck, Katie Fitzgerald, Margaret Clark, Stephanie Mast, Lauren Reiner, and stroked by Emily Coblenz the boat was steered by Becky England.
The novice eight raced in the largest field of the meet with 20 boats entered. The novice A boat came in third behind two Wisconsin boats. "We knew Wisconsin would be fast and hoped to be a little more competitive today", said Assistant Coach Joan Rubinger. The novice B boat was a great surprise, as they finished seventh out of 20. "These women had never rowed prior to six weeks ago and for four of them it was their first race ever. They did a great job," said Rubinger.
Other highlights of the day were the novice fours. Here, Indiana finished first and second and beat Purdue by over one minute. "They did a great job in both fours, again with limited boat time prior to the race. The women really stepped up and raced really well," said Assistant Coach Robert McCracken.
"Our small boats did a good job today and are excited about learning more about sculling and getting another chance to race next week." Wilson said. "We need to put more emphasis on the small boats in the fall, because it gives the rowers a real feeling of their contribution to the boat."
The final race of the day was a mixed eight race that combined four IU men and women rowers in each boat. "This gives our two teams a chance to compete together which is a real fun experience," explained Coach Wilson. "It is even more fun when you win and that is what we did today. We entered two boats, one novice and one varsity and they finished one and two in a field of seven."
Coach Wilson took to the water today in the masters singles and won in a time of 17:16.
"Overall the day was a good racing experience but we know as a team every boat must get faster if we are to be competitive next weekend as we travel to Elkhart. The Head of the Elk will be the final event of the fall and will feature some tough Big Ten rivals such as Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State," said Wilson.
LemonHead Regatta a Sweet Success
The Indiana rowing team was the big winner at the third annual Lemonhead Regatta Saturday afternoon on Lake Lemon in Bloomington.
Two pair of IU women's boats opened the day with solid races. Other highlights included victories by the varsity eight and varsity four boats. The Indiana A eight held off two Cincinnati boats in a time of 18:12 while the Indiana A and B open four boats claimed first and second in 18:31 and 18:36.
Sophomores Molly Fetzer and Kelly Krise crossed the finish line first in 23:19 in the pair.
"We'd only rowed together twice, so we had to overcome that a little bit," said Krise. "It's a challenge to steer the boat in a pair, because you're steering with your foot. You have to concentrate on that and rowing, but it was our course and that helped."
The novice eight won their race in a time of 18:41, fending off three University of Minnesota boats, two Marquette boats, and two Xavier boats. Indiana B finished fifth in the race. The novice four boat fell to Marquette by 24 seconds to finish second in 22:09. Indiana B followed in third in 23:09.
Coach Mark Wilson was pleased with the team's effort.
"The team did excellent. They didn't get much coaching today, so the team did great. The novice girls did fine. Having the varsity girls come out and beat Marquette, a team that they had lost to last week, that was one of the things that we wanted to do. We had a win over Louisville and a win over Cincinnati, two teams I consider to be peers right now," said Wilson.
Chicago Chase
The Indiana rowing team did well as the varsity eight and novice eight boats won their events helping lead IU to victory at the inaugural Chicago Chase. The highlight of the morning events was the varsity eight race, which was rowed by Emily Coblenz, Margaret Clark, Stephanie Mast, Emily Rumschlag, Meg Gallagher, Beth Lund, Erin Koers, Katy Ostertag, and coxed by Mary Hubbard. The crew finished the 2.75 mile course in 17:45, just six seconds ahead of the varsity crew from Notre Dame. The second varsity eight finished third with a very strong row and a finishing time of 18:48.
The women's novice eight also won their event beating Northwestern by 14 seconds in a time of 19:46. This race win was especially sweet for the novice eight, as several of the rowers had never raced in a rowing event prior to that Saturday. The rowers were Emily Patzer, Adriane Cline, Stacy Kadela, Shawn O'Donnell, Margaret Shelsey, Marjorie Mahan, Christine Taylor, Rachel Turskey, and coxed by Becky England.
The overall team trophy was also won by Indiana University, with the joint effort of the men's club team. The team was awarded a brand new Vespoli racing single valued at about $6,000. One-hundred and nine total points was awarded to Indiana while Notre Dame finished second with 55 points.
Head of the Rock
Indiana rowing had one of its most successful weekends in its young history as the Hoosiers proved to be one of the top programs at the Head of the Rock in Rockford, Ill.
Indiana tallied two first place finishes and a second place finish at the Head of the Rock. The varsity four and the novice four each won their race and the novice eight placed second in a field of 28 boats. Indiana also had a novice four boat place fourth and varsity four boat take home sixth. The varsity eight boat placed eighth.
"This was a great race for the varsity four. We had some girls who had not raced together before race together this weekend and they did a great job," Wilson said. "These two races really allowed us to gauge where we are at against some of the same competition that we will see this weekend and throughout the season. We are happy at where we are right now, though we do have some things to still work on."
Rowers Clean Up
Coach Wilson's crew team spent two hours after practice on Saturday, September 23, 2000, cleaning up the lakeshore of Lake Lemon. Lake Lemon is organized as a conservancy district in Bloomington, Indiana, and has been undergoing a great deal of upgrading over the past few years.
September 23rd was the annual fall cleanup of Riddle Point Park and the surrounding public areas. The rowers and several other volunteers spent the morning picking up trash from the water, shoreline, the park area, and the entrance to the point. A pickup truck full of trash was removed with items ranging from many beverage bottles to a gas tank, and picnic tables which had been pushed into the water.
The rowers are happy to help keep the park and water of the lake clean, as they continue to serve as good neighbors on the lakeshore.
The University owns 33 acres of property on the lake, which have been undergoing improvements over the last two years. Improvements to the university property include an upgrade of utilities, access, and landscaping additions.
Lake Lemon is the 11th largest lake in Indiana, and covers an area of 1650 acres, has 24 miles of shoreline and was formed by the damming of Bean Blossom Creek in the early 1950's.
Captain's Log
Junior Joanna McCallister from Carmel, Indiana, and sophomore Amy Roble from Farmington Hills, Michigan, were named captains this spring on a vote by their teammates. McCallister was a captain starting last fall and Roble was nominated starting in the spring of 2001.
The Name Game
The tradition of naming boats after women has gone back a long time. Five women who have helped the IU team have boats named after them. Peg Z. Brand, Judy Donninger and Elizabeth (Buzz) Kurpius all have eight-man boats after them. Suzanne Floyd and Joy Mauro have four-man boats named after them.
The very first boat named after a male was dedicated at halftime of the last Indiana men's basketball home game of the season on February 14. This new shell was named after the late, great Herman B. Wells.
