Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
California
First Varsity 8 Ties School Record
4/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
April 9, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS - The first varsity 8 shell tied the school record for head-to-head victories in a season with eight triumphs set last year, in a competitive battle of morning races. The Hoosiers closed out the day of competition against defending national champion California, Notre Dame, Purdue and Wisconsin in Indianapolis on April 9 with a second-place finish in the morning first varsity 8.
The first varsity 8 team of junior Betsy Hibbard (cox), senior Ashley Airis (stroke), senior Elisabeth Benoit, senior Laura Lazaridis, junior Laura Stebbins, junior Courtney Valerious, junior Rozzie McHenry, junior Colleen Ryan and junior Elaine Deppe (bow) placed second in 7:05.6, while California raced to first in 6:54.2 and Purdue took third in 7:26.1.
"It was a gorgeous day today with a bit of a headwind," Indiana head coach Steve Peterson said. "The first varsity 8 race against California went well. We finished just 10 seconds off the defending national champs. We had a much more disciplined race and focused on the technical aspects of our race against them. We weren't too aggressive, but we really did a nice job of staying that close."
Meanwhile, the second novice 8 contingent of freshman Carlie Boese (cox), freshman Stephanie Hamilton (stroke), freshman Jessica Keller, sophomore Megan Robb, freshman Laura Fuhrmann, freshman Stephanie Horvath, freshman Christina Vernon, freshman Rachel Bernhardt and freshman Allison Parman (bow) placed second with a 7:50.7, while Wisconsin crossed the line first in 7:38.2 and Notre Dame took third in 8:19.7.
In the first novice 8, the squad of freshman Madison Spruell (cox), freshman Ashley Johnson (stroke), junior Kourtney Beckham, sophomore Kiri Crane, freshman Jamie Spoto, freshman Brittany Billingsley, sophomore Marla Alexander, freshman Jenn Maslanka and freshman Kelsey Kapral (bow) finished second in 7:35.8, while Wisconsin took first in 7:23.1 and Notre Dame placed third in 7:37.6.
The Hoosiers had a tough time in the first varsity 4 as the team of freshman Shelby Jacobson (cox), junior Dana Powell (stroke), senior Liz Marshall, senior Erin Kuehn and sophomore Jessica Newlin (bow) closed out the race in third with an 8:36.6, while Wisconsin won in 8:17.5 and Notre Dame placed second in 8:23.6
In the final race of the day, the first varsity 8 fell in a head-to-head battle with Big Ten foe Wisconsin, 7:17.3-7:31.1.
Next up, the Hoosiers play host to Minnesota and Oregon State at Lake Lemon in Bloomington, Ind., on April 15 in the final home regatta of the season.
Players Mentioned
