Indiana University Athletics
Strong Showing at Big Ten Invite (4-19-03)
4/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
East Lansing, Mich. - The Indiana women's rowing team competed in the Big Ten Invitational in East Lansing, Mich., Saturday and faced some of the nation's best teams in Michigan, Ohio State and host MSU.
The day was highlighted by first place finish by the second Novice 8 boat of Maria Hernandez, Erin Kuehn, Elisabeth Benoit, Casey Fein, Katie Slavik, Ashley Sylla, Jamy Stech, Barrett Belstra and Laura Teskoski. In the first race of the day, the second Novice 8 boat posted a time of 7:23.9, defeating the Michigan Wolverines by nearly three seconds. The same boat finished just behind Michigan State in the second race of the day as the Hoosiers rowed to a time of 7:26.40 to the Spartans 7:25.94.
The first Novice 8 boat was just four seconds behind Michigan with a time of 7:14.00. The first Novice 8 boat includes Laura Wharen, Lauren Anderson, Amy Hoffman, Leslie Schaffer, Katy Dickerson, Ashley Airis, Kati Peiss, Laura Lazaridis and Carly Schilling. The same boat finished second to Michigan State with a time of 7:18.35, later in the invitational.
"Overall, all of the Indiana teams really did a very good job today," said head coach Mark Wilson. "We went up against the best competition we've seen this season. The performance of the first and second Novice boats was very solid."
The Novice 4 boat competed against rival schools' second Varsity 4 boats early in the day, finishing with a time of 9:03.5. The OSU Buckeyes, ranked 11th in the country, took first place with a time of 7:54.31. The fifth-ranked Wolverines and 10th ranked Spartans finished second and third, respectively.
The Varsity 8 boat of Becky England, Stephanie Mast, Emily Rumschlag, Line Espedal, Margaret Clark, Ashley Quinn, Kelly Schuiling, Erin Koers and Danielle Bird finished second to Michigan with a time of 6:59.03. In the final race of the day, the boat finished second to Michigan State with a time of 7:00.1.
The second Varsity 8 boat of Rebekha Archibald, Annie Lawson, Amanda Walker, Casey Schoenhoft, Christine Taylor, Amanda Tallman, Stephanie Weert, Sarah Meyer and Kristin Storer placed second to Michigan with a time of 7:24.58.
"While the second Varsity 8 boat had three or four lightweights and were not as physically strong as the Michigan boat, they came through with a solid performance," said Wilson. "Although they finished 20 seconds behind the Michigan boat it was a good result."
The second Varsity 8 boat continued into the afternoon, finishing second to Michigan State with a time of 7:26.14.
"The first Varsity finished 14 seconds behind Michigan and we felt really good about that. We know that we can get a little quicker over the next few weeks. Overall, we felt very good about the racing today," said Wilson. "We feel good that we are closer than we have been in the past years, so the program is moving forward. We are really putting a positive spin on our performance today and we feel good heading towards the Big Ten Championships."
The Hoosiers next take to the water Saturday, April 26, in Indianapolis, Ind.
