Indiana University Athletics
Crew Heads to Lawrence for the Kansas Invite
3/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
March 27, 2001
Two-Day Kansas Invite Awaits Indiana in Lawrence
Meet Data
Indiana hopes the cold weather will go away on their first road trip of the spring. The University of Kansas is hosting the Kansas Invite in Lawrence with invitations going out to UMass, Kansas State, Tulsa, and Iowa.
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.
Scouting the Competition
UMass is a very talented and experienced team that has won the Atlantic-10 crown for five consecutive years. The Minutewomen have a very large roster that is coached by Jim Dietz.
Kansas opened their spring season with wins in four of seven events against the University of Texas two weekends ago and will host their first race of the season. The Jayhawks are another team with a large and experienced roster.
Kansas State also participated at the Longhorn Invitational last weekend and scored a couple of varsity victories. KSU has a young squad that is up-and-coming.
Iowa also went to Austin, Texas and had successful in the Lone Star state. The varsity boats won all events entered while the novice boats constantly placed in the top three.
Tulsa is yet another team that participated in the Longhorn Invitational making this invite a reunion of sorts for most of the teams. The Golden Hurricane are used to seeing Southern Methodist on the water as UT won two of three events in Texas from the Mustangs and then won six of eight from SMU in a dual last weekend.
Indiana and Cold Weather Each Win Two Events
Despite less than favorable weather conditions, the crew captured two victories over Louisville to open the spring season. The varsity A boat took first in 7:05.9 on the 2000 meter course, dominating the 1000 meters. The novice eight boat won in 7:56.3.
Winds of 15-20 miles per hour and a wind chill of 16-20 degrees prevented the four boats from hitting the water.
The varsity eight A beat out the Cardinals by just 6.2 seconds. The varsity eight B caught a crab at about the 1,200 meter mark and finished 7:51.0 for third place.
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.
Knowing Your Rowing
Crew - The sport of rowing referred to as.
Shell - The name given to the boats used in the sport of rowing.
Coxswain - The onboard strategist, tactician and even coach who is responsible for steering the shell. The coxswain is responsible for informing the crew as to where they are in the race and how they are doing.
Feather - The motion used by rowers to get the blade out of the water.
Crab - The term use when an oarsman does not feather the oar cleanly. This can cause the boat to slow down and could catapult the oarmen out of the boat. A crab usually disrupts the synchronized motion during each stroke cycle maintained by the oarsman (which is called their "flow" or "swing").
Sweep Rowing - The type of rowing where each oarsman has one oar and rows either the port or starboard side of the shell.
Sculling - The type of rowing where each oarsman has two oars.
Catch - The point at which the blade enters the water.
Novice - Any competitor who has been competing for one year or less as of October 1, 1999. Experience as a sculler does not count as experience in sweep events and vice versa.
Bow - The forward section of the boat.
Stern - The back part of a boat.
Starboard - The right side of a boat facing the bow.
Port - The left side of a boat when facing the boat
