Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Michigan State
Second Novice 8 Claims Triumph at Michigan State
3/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
March 25, 2006
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The second novice 8 shell of freshman Carlie Boese (cox), freshman Stephanie Hamilton (stroke), freshman Ariana Breckner, freshman Stephanie Horvath, sophomore Marla Alexander, freshman Rachel Bernhardt, sophomore Nadia Haven, freshman Christina Vernon and senior Liz Marshall (bow) claimed victory for the Indiana rowing team during their title with defending Big Ten champion No. 13 Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich., on March 25. Overall, the 2N8 scored a 10-second triumph over its counterpart Spartan crew.
"They had a pretty solid race," assistant coach Fran O'Rourke said. "They rode well together and pulled hard. There are definitely some things to sharpen and clean up. We look forward to some faster boats in the future."
Meanwhile, the varsity 8 contingent of junior Betsy Hibbard (cox), senior Laura Lazaridis (stroke), senior Elisabeth Benoit, junior Courtney Valerious, freshman Jamie Spoto, freshman Ashley Johnson, junior Rozzie McHenry, junior Colleen Ryan and junior Elaine Deppe (bow) fell to both the Michigan State 1V8 and 2V8 boats in a challenge against one of the top teams in the nation.
"Coming into the regatta, we had higher hopes than what we accomplished," head coach Steve Peterson said. "We fell back on execution today. We went after it and tried, but forgot to think as well as pulling hard. We ended up just flailing out there."
The first novice 8 shell of freshman Madison Spruell (cox), freshman Jenn Maslanka (stroke), junior Kourtney Beckham, sophomore Kiri Crane, freshman Jessica Keller, freshman Brittany Billingsley, sophomore Jessica Newlin, sophomore Megan Robb and freshman Kelsey Kapral (bow) also crossed the line behind the Spartan 1N8.
"There is no doubt that we worked hard in the novice 8, but not on the right things," assistant coach Carmen Mirochna said. "We are working to put together a good 2,000-meter piece. The first 1,000 was good, but we were facing a program that has a lot of banners. Competing against teams like that as we continue to strengthen our regular-season schedule is exciting."
Both of the fours also took losses, while competing against an incredibly deep and talented crew of Spartans. The first varsity 4 of Hibbard (cox), senior Ashley Airis (stroke), senior Erin Kuehn, junior Dana Powell and junior Laura Stebbins (bow) came in 18 seconds behind the Michigan State varsity 4, while the novice 4 quintet of freshman Shelby Jacobson (cox), freshman Ketra Bartek (stroke), freshman Allison Parman, freshman Melissa Miller and freshman Allison Blackburn (bow) finished after the Spartan's second varsity 4.
Next up, the Hoosiers play host to Cincinnati, Dayton and Eastern Michigan on April 1 at Lake Lemon.
Players Mentioned
