Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Head of the Hooch
Rowing Wraps up Competition at Head of the Hooch
11/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Nov. 4, 2006
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Indiana's rowing team competed at the Head of the Hooch on the Tennessee River on Nov. 4, with the novice crews leading the way for the Hoosiers.
IU's first novice eight of Michelle Marchese (cox), Laura Jones (stroke), Sarah Tinsley, Cassady Bethel-Thompson, Katie Liston, Colleen Calhoun, Emily Kasavana, Faye Sparks and Brittney Paulk (bow) earned the silver medal in the women's freshman novice eight race, finishing the three-mile head race in 16:41.2. The Hoosiers finished just 0.8 seconds behind Texas' second novice eight.
The Hoosiers' second novice eight of Monica Idstein (cox), Christina Sell (stroke), Elizabeth Young, Nicole Coton, Jenny Schepper, Julie Long, Sarah Lintner, Adair Ahlers and Justine Maxey (bow) also turned in a solid effort, taking seventh in the race in 17:38.0.
"I was really pleased with how the novice did today," assistant coach Fran O'Rourke said. "It was their first race. It was pretty chaotic at the start, and they were the first IU crew to race. And we talked about setting a good tone, and I think both boats did that. Our goals were top three and top 10, so clearly they did that. They raced hard. They raced well. They did a good job of being professional. They did a really nice job of keeping their focus and performing well. This is a really good way to go into winter training."
The next race in which Indiana competed was the women's championship eight, and IU's first varsity eight of Betsy Hibbard (cox), Courtney Valerious (stroke), Rozzie McHenry, Colleen Ryan, Laura Stebbins, Ashley Johnson, Jamie Spoto, Dana Powell and Kelsey Kapral (bow) fnished 11th in 16:16.0. A pair of crews from Tennessee swept the top two spots, while UCF finished third.
"I thought we could have performed a little bit better in the varsity eight," head coach Steve Peterson said. "I think from a technical standpoint, we did fine. They are in good shape and ready to go. But the biggest disappointment is that on race day we're not stepping up and racing. It was disappointing in the eights because that's what happened. When we went out in the fours and there wasn't any pressure, we raced. We expected much better, and I know they're capable of much better, we just have to get them able to perform on race day."
Indiana's second varsity eight, a freshman-heavy crew composed of Madison Spruell (cox), Molly Sinks (stroke), Brittaney Norris, Andrea Francis, Jessica Keller, Laura Fuhrmann, Katie Feckler, Stephanie Horvath and Kourtney Beckham (bow), finished 13th in 16:26.4.
"Today's race wasn't necessarily Indiana's best performance," assistant coach Carmen Mirochna said. "But overall, compared to everyone else's `B' boat, we did okay. I told them leaving this race, `Don't be satisfied.' And we were going into winter training that way. We want more. We relied on freshmen today and we're looking for the upperclassmen to match that reliability."
Indiana capped its day with three entries in the women's championship four, taking eighth, 10th and 16th.
The first varsity four of Hibbard (cox), Powell (stroke), McHenry, Valerious and Spoto (bow) turned in a time of 17:35.7 to finish eighth, just behind entries from Tennessee and North Carolina.
Indiana's second varsity four of Spruell (cox), Johnson (stroke), Stebbins, Ryan and Kapral (bow) was just two spots behind the first varsity four, posting a time of 17:41.5 to finish just under five seconds behind Southern Methodist.
The Hoosiers' freshman four, composed of Marchese (cox), Sinks (stroke), Norris, Jones and Feckler (bow), completed Indiana's day, finishing in 17:58.8, just behind North Carolina and ahead of Murray State and two entries from Clemson.
The Hoosiers will host their Fall Intrasquad Class Race on Saturday, Nov. 11, then will be off until a winter training trip to Tampa, Fla., on Dec. 30.
