Wisco Novice Women Shine at Big Ten Double Dual
April 15, 2006 | Lightweight Rowing
Wisconsin's novice eight performed as one of the fastest of any of the boats on Lake Wingra Saturday as the No. 16 Badgers played host to the 2006 Big Ten Double Dual with No. 7 Michigan State, No. 9 Michigan and Iowa taking part.
With temperatures reaching as high as 69 degrees and east southeast cross head winds up to 15 miles per hour, it was a warm April day for the races.
Wisconsin novice openweight boats took advantage of the conditions and were a perfect 6-0 on the day as the second novice eight opened the morning for the openweights with a comfortable victory over Michigan State. The UW timed 6:54.4 over 1,850 meters to best the Spartans' time of 6:57.3.
In perhaps the most impressive performance of the entire day, the UW novice eight clocked a 6:24.0 in cruising to a victory over MSU. The Spartans timed a 6:39.1. The time for the UW novice was the second fastest time of any boat all day. Only the No. 7 Michigan State varsity eight clocked a faster time.
The novice four also won its morning race, clocking a 7:53.5 to rout Iowa, which finished in 8:36.7. The UW novice lightweight four also raced in the event, finishing third in 8:53.5.
The UW novice lightweights clocked a 6:58.1 to finish second behind Iowa (6:54.8), but ahead of Michigan (7:08.9) in the second novice eight openweight race, the first event of the entire regatta.
'It was a beautiful day in Madison,' said head coach Bebe Bryans. 'It was nice to see a lot of people come out and watch some really good racing. I thought our novice squad was exceptionally good today. It just is so exciting to watch them enjoy racing as much as they do.'
In morning varsity races, the second varsity four took the top two spots racing against Michigan State, the second varsity eight was edged by Michigan State, 6:28.2 to 6:29.6 and the varsity eight fell to the Spartans, 6:22.6 to 6:30.6.
Wisconsin varsity lightweight eight raced in the second varsity eight race, falling to Michigan (6:32.4), but besting Iowa (6:56.0) in a time of 6:39.0.
The novices repeated their results in the afternoon as the second novice eight finished first and the novice lightweights placed second in the event, both ahead of Michigan. The novice eight posted a 6:32.9 for an easy win over the Wolverines' time of 6:48.9. The UW novice openweight afternoon time was better than all but the Michigan State and Michigan's varsity eight and the Wisconsin and Michigan second varsity eight afternoon performances.
The UW varsity squad improved in the afternoon, winning the second varsity four over Michigan, edging past Michigan in the varsity four to place second behind MSU and knocking off the Wolverines by a second in the second varsity eight. The UW varsity eight fell to No. 9 Michigan by a 6:30.4 to 6:38.0 count.
The UW varsity lightweight four was edged by Michigan State's second varsity openweight four, while the UW varsity lightweight eight finished behind the Wisconsin and Michigan second varsity openweight eights.
'Our varsity is still finding its speed and we knew that was going to be the case,' added Bryans. 'We made some really nice improvements from the morning to the afternoon. Both Michigan and Michigan State are fast ' there is no question about it. We never like to lose, but I think we are improving and we just have to keep our eyes on that. So it was a great day.'
Wisconsin's openweight and lightweight women's programs next return to the water and Lake Wingra for racing next Saturday, April 22 for the 33rd annual Midwest Rowing Championships.
