Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Aiming For The Top This Weekend
5/15/2015 10:30:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Indiana looks to improve on last year's fourth place performance at the Big Ten Championships
By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana rowing has worked all season long with No. 1 Ohio State in mind.
The undefeated and two-time defending national champion Buckeyes have been the definition of success in the Varsity Eight boat over the last two seasons. Everyone else in the country has been working to catch up.
The Hoosiers will get their chance to see how that work pays off against the reigning champions this weekend. Indiana and Ohio State are just two of the eight teams competing at the Big Ten Rowing Championships at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis.
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Indiana head coach Steve Peterson likes his teams' odds, too. The Hoosiers have trained all year long with the postseason in mind, and now it's time to show their speed and try to beat Ohio State and the rest of the Big Ten field.
"It's what I love about this sport," Peterson said. "Our kids have worked as hard as anyone, so if my people believe in it and they go after it and push themselves as hard as they can, we should be able to go as fast as anyone."
The Hoosiers are no stranger to the Buckeyes, having raced them twice in the last seven months.
The most recent Varsity Eight race came less than a month ago at the Clemson Invitational.
The Hoosiers kept pace with Ohio State before ultimately being beaten by 5.9 seconds.
Although Indiana lost that day, senior Meradith Dickensheets said the Hoosiers were "nowhere near" their best physical shape at the time.
The Hoosiers made an adjustment in their tapering schedule this spring, with the idea that they will be even more prepared to perform their best this weekend and beyond. They've spent the last few weeks resting and preparing to make a postseason push to the national championship, which begins at the Big Ten conference meet where they'll be up against a very strong field of Big Ten crews.
"We talk about it all the time amongst ourselves. (Ohio State) is the defending national champions, but they're college students just like we are," Dickensheets said. "We've put in a lot of hard work and feel like we are ready for this weekend."
Ohio State's Varsity Eight only headlines a strong field of boats that the Hoosiers will have to fend off in order to best last year's fourth place finish in the Big Ten Championships.
The No. 13 Hoosiers will also be up against No. 8 Wisconsin and No. 12 Michigan, both of which beat Indiana last season.
But that was a slightly different, and slower, Hoosier team. The current Varsity Eight boat beat the Wolverines for the first time in program history in Ann Arbor, Mich., last month.
"That first time beating Michigan was amazing," senior Asja Zero said. "We know we have the speed to do it now. We've seen it and we're getting stronger, too."
Peterson admitted he's not exactly certain what he'll get out of his boats at the conference championships.
Even he's been surprised by the progress the team has made over the last few seasons. He said much of that success is owed to the senior class set to make their final postseason runs.
Peterson said he likes the way his boats have made ground up on Ohio State in the last few races and hopes to make another jump come race day. Ultimately, some of it will be out of IU's control.
The only thing the Hoosiers can do is go faster in their own boats. Everything else will fall into place after that.
"The thing I like about our sport is we can't do anything about anyone else," Peterson said. "All we can do is make ourselves go faster or slow. That's what our focus is on. We hope we are fast enough at the end of the day, and if it's not, it's not. We'll go back and try it again."
"But I feel good about this group," Peterson continued. "I like our chances."
