May 17, 2015

WORCESTER, Mass. --- The 15th-ranked Wisconsin men's rowing team captured at least one Eastern Sprints title for the 10th consecutive year, as the second freshman eight won for the fifth time in as many years to lead the Badgers effort on Lake Quinsigamond. The Eastern Sprints serve as Wisconsin's conference championships.

"Some mixed results today," head coach Chris Clark stated. "Starting with the frosh, it was great. Our second frosh boat against fifth varsities, just obliterated the field by over 10 seconds. We've had some second frosh wins in the past, but this was the best one I've seen since probably 2000. It really was impressive. I'm proud of those guys. They did a great job."

The second freshman eight took part in the second freshman/fifth varsity eight race, with UW winning in 6:00.735. Brown's fifth varsity eight was second in 6:10.785. The only other second freshman boat in the race was Harvard, who ended up sixth in 6:19.183.

Wisconsin's other freshman entry, its freshman eight, also finished in the medals with a silver to solidify the Badgers' youthful success. Harvard captured gold with a 5:46.604 for 2000 meters, with the Badgers a boat-length back in 5:48.829. Penn was a distant third in 5:57.744.

"In the freshman, it was a diminished field," Clark said. "A lot of the teams were taking their best guys out, but not Harvard. It depends on the year, but this year there were only five entries. We led Harvard for probably 1000 meters. There are mostly internationals in that boat and we got second.

"That was the first time we've won a medal in that event since 2003. Smaller field, but it doesn't matter to me. The guys were good. Their time was excellent, as well. They put it in the 5:40s which is very good. That is great going forward."

In the varsity races, a revamped varsity eight, made up of seven seniors and one junior rowers, surprised a bit in the morning heats, taking third in the second heat by edging Cornell. Princeton (5:37.329) and eventual runner-up Northeastern (5:38.314) grabbed the top-two spots to advance to the afternoon Grand Final, but the Badgers grabbed third in 5:43.066 to qualify for the Petite Final. Cornell was fourth in 5:44.900.

In the afternoon Petite Final, UW took sixth, which was good for 12th overall. Navy claimed the race and took seventh with a time of 5:40.425, with Columbia (5:41.797), Pennsylvania (5:43.002), Cornell (5:44.135) and Dartmouth (5:45.656) finishing ahead of UW (5:47.313).

Yale won the varsity eight overall, with a time of 5:35.759, with Northeastern (5:37.089) and Princeton (5:37.438) rounding out the medal winners.

"Not so great in the 3V, 2V and 1V," Clark lamented. "It turned out that the two boats in the varsity eight that qualified in front of them for the Grand Final finished second and third overall. We led them for a while, but we just don't have enough juice to run with those guys. I just mean shear horsepower.

"You could really see that in the afternoon. We were in the race and we just ran out of gas. We finished 12th out of 18. The guys were real unhappy with it. It is a big disappointment because they have a lot of speed, but you've got to have staying power. You got to be able to do those two races in a day. We are going to go back to Madison and regroup."

The second varsity eight opened the morning with what turned out to be the toughest heat of the day. The top-two boats in the Grand Final -- Princeton and Boston University -- were also the top-two boats in UW's morning heat, while third-place Cornell and fourth-place Wisconsin finished first and second in the afternoon Petite Final. That finish gave Wisconsin eight overall in the event.

The third varsity eight would also compete in the Petite Final, where it would place third for ninth overall.

"Part of it is that we just haven't figured out who is in what boat," Clark explained. "That is biggest issue. Normally it doesn't take this long, but we are waiting for guys to step up and assert themselves. We will start again on Tuesday."

The Badgers next look to the 2015 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships, which take place May 29-31 in West Windsor, New Jersey.

2015 Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Championships
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Lake Quinsigamond
Worcester, Mass.
2000 meters

Varsity Eight
Petite Final (Places 7-12)
1. Navy, 5:40.425; 2. Columbia, 5:41.797; 3. Pennsylvania, 5:43.002; 4. Cornell, 5:44.135; 5. Dartmouth, 5:45.656; 6. Wisconsin, 5:47.313

Heat 2 (Top 2 advance to Grand Final, 3-4 to Petite Final)
1. Princeton, 5:37.329; 2. Northeastern, 5:38.314; 3. Wisconsin, 5:43.066; 4. Cornell, 5:44.900; 5. Holy Cross, 5:47.096; 6. George Washington, 5:49.172
UW Lineup -- Coxswain Michael Callahan, Kyle Smith, Peter Ginouves, Matt Sobotka, Vince Bertram, William Bleifuss, Steve Berg Jr., Andrew Stone, Jonathan Dobson

Second Varsity Eight
Petite Final (Places 7-12)
1. Cornell, 5:51.893; 2. Wisconsin, 5:56.769; 3. Pennsylvania, 5:57.860; 4. Dartmouth, 6:00.779; 5. Navy, 6:01.045; 6. Columbia, 6:02.415

Heat 1 (Top 2 advance to Grand Final, 3-4 to Petite Final)
1. Princeton, 5:36.669; 2. Boston University, 5:36.992; 3. Cornell, 5:43.497; 4. Wisconsin, 5:47.320; 5. Syracuse, 5:54.117
UW Lineup -- Coxswain James Roen, Sam Helle, Laing Wise, Sam Weeks, James Lueken, George Perrett, Michael Knippen, William Horvat, Alex Idarraga

Third Varsity Eight
Petite Final (Places 7-12)
1. Dartmouth, 5:54.409; 2. Harvard, 5:56.025; 3. Wisconsin, 5:56.901; 4. Navy, 5:59.203; 5. Syracuse, 6:02.195; 6. Pennsylvania, 6:08.562

Heat 1 (Top 2 to Grand Final, 3-4 to Petite Final)
1. Cornell, 5:42.632; 2. Yale, 5:43.777; 3. Wisconsin, 5:50.256; 4. Syracuse, 5:57.969; 5. Columbia, 6:06.103
UW Lineup -- Coxswain Ben Flaherty, Patrick Muto, Peter Burrus, Steven Thom, Jim Letten, Jack Spencer, John Goodman, John French, Graham Mink

UW Freshman Eight
Grand Final
1. Harvard, 5:46.604; 2. Wisconsin, 5:48.829; 3. Pennsylvania, 5:57.744; 4. Cornell, 6:06.681; 5. Navy, 6:11.535
UW Lineup -- Coxswain Theodore Van Beek, Nickolas Montalvo, Andrew Flannery, James Bernard, Tristan Amberger, Erik Kernozek, Andrew Griffin, Jonah Van der Weide, Jacob Hurlbutt

UW Second Freshman/Fifth Varsity Eight
Grand Final
1. Wisconsin 2F8, 6:00.735; 2. Brown 5V8, 6:10.785; 3. Dartmouth 5V8, 6:14.023; 4. Princeton 5V8, 6:14.569; 5. Navy 5V8, 6:14.797; 6. Harvard 2F8, 6:19.183; 7. Holy Cross 5V8, 6:27.333
UW Lineup -- Coxswain Jefferson Chan, Alexander Butler, Christoph Bub, Theodore Boesen, John Hollow, Timothy Glennon, Nicholas Ryan, Mark Herzberg, Amos Mayberry