Wisconsin Badgers
Milwaukee River Challenge
Wisconsin women's rowing starts 2010-11 season on high note
September 18, 2010 | Women's Rowing
Sept. 18, 2010
MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin women's openweight and lightweight rowing teams began their 2010-11 season at the Milwaukee River Challenge on Saturday. Both teams competed well, with the openweights winning both the women's open four and women's open eight races. The lightweights competed especially well with a young squad making up its crews.
"We have a young team this year, today we only had four seniors race, everyone else was sophomores," said varsity lightweight coach Erik Miller.
The Badger openweights went 1-2-3 in the women's four race, with the lightweight B and C boats taking fourth and fifth places, respectively. The storm that went through the Milwaukee area earlier in the morning caused debris to wash into the Menominee and Milwaukee Rivers, where the challenge took place. That debris knocked the lightweight four A boat's skeg off, effectively ending their competitive chances.
Meanwhile, in the women's open eight race, Wisconsin's lightweight A and B boats finished third and fifth, and the openweights took first and second. Despite the large underclass presence on the lightweight team, Miller says he's happy with how things are going so far.
"We're definitely not as strong of a team as we were last year at this time, but we've got a really young and talented group and I look forward to the progress that we're going to make going forward from here."
There is a large underclass presence on the openweight team as well, and despite that, varsity openweight coach Bebe Bryans says her boats exceeded her expectations on the choppy waters today.
"There were a lot of sophomores up in the top boats and they performed like seasoned veterans, so I think it's a great start to the season and it's a great start to our effort."
In addition to UW's current rowers, a boat of Wisconsin alumni took home first in the masters women's eight event. Led by coxswain Hal Menendez, the boat of Kathleen Haberman, Julie (Hansen) Van Cleave, Heidi (Grutzner) Martel, Chari Towne, Jane Ludwig, Sandie Mintz, Rose (Morelle) Marchuk and Marge Steuck clocked a time of 18:52.83 to capture the title. The time would have been good for fifth place in the open women's eight event.
Next, Wisconsin women's rowing takes to the waters of Lake Mendota on Saturday, Sept. 25, during the annual Class Day Races. This fun, easy race invites both openweight and lightweight alumni back to the Porter Boathouse to race against the current Badgers. The races start at 8 a.m.
Milwaukee River Challenge
September 18, 2010
Menomonie and Milwaukee Rivers
Open Eight
1. Wisconsin A, 16:47.9; 2. Wisconsin B, 17:22.9; 3. Wisconsin Lightweight A; 4. Purdue; 5. Wisconsin Lightweight B, 19:01.3
Open A - Coxswain Kendall Schmidt, Brianna Pittman, Vanessa Kleiss, Anna Schettle, Katelyn Swanson, Amy Slesar, Hanna Lynch, Lisa Godhardt, Rebekah Foelker
Open B - Coxswain Jane Roberts, Rachel Buchholtz, Shannon Schlack, Lauren Peitila, Margaret Yale, Jacqueline Koykkar, Kate Mansfield, Julia Whittet, Kirsten Morelli
Lightweight A - Coxswain Shelly Miller, Breanne Lynch, Hillary Schmidt, Grace Lautman, Helen Beckner, Abby Knight, Taylor Fries, Anais Webster, Constance Chucholowski
Lightweight B - Coxswain Janel Alters, Jennifer Gross, Meredith Freshley, Caroline Mansueti, Jessica Lund, Erin Wylie, Caitlin Washburn, Samantha Boynton, Gabrielle Read
Open Four
1. Wisconsin A, 18:59; 2. Wisconsin B, 19:02; 3. Wisconsin C, 19:47; 4. Wisconsin Lightweight B, 20:02; 5. Wisconsin Lightweight C; 12. Wisconsin D, 21:20
Open A - Coxswain Beth Swanson, Rachel Buchholtz, Margaret Yale, Jacqueline Koykkar, Alex Opitz
Open B - Coxswain Clare Chandler, Brianna Pittman, Hanna Lynch, Amy Slesar, Shannon Schlack
Open C - Coxswain Jaci Kent, Shannon Hoffman, Rachel Kean, Caitlin Mueller, Alyssa Alvarez
Open D - Coxswain Jane Roberts, Sara Watermolen, Carly Orwin, Jo Tess, Miranda Padilla
Lightweight A - Coxswain Janel Alters, Helen Beckner, Grace Lautman, Abby Knight, Hillary Schmidt
Lightweight B - Coxswain Shelly Miller, Constance Chucholowski, Jessica Lund, Taylor Fries, Breanne Lynch
Lightweight C - Coxswain Jenna Pavelec, Jennifer Gross, Gabrielle Read, Caroline Mansueti, Melissa Abler
