Around The Game

Women's crew to battle 3 teams at Lake LemonThe women's crew team will compete at home for the first time this season as it is host to Cincinnati, Dayton and Northwestern at Lake Lemon Saturday. After a strong performance last weekend at the Jayhawk Rowing Invitational, the Hoosiers will be looking to get more race experience under their belt. \n"I am very happy to be at home and hope the team will get pumped up for the race on Saturday," coach Mark Wilson said. "I am looking forward to see everyone this week continue to push the ratings so they feel more confident during race day."\nSaturday's showdown will be different from what the rowers have been used to. Instead of having multiple runs, each boat will have one opportunity, leaving no room for error. \n"Each boat will race once, and they need to make sure that their one chance to sit on the line and race is the best," Wilson said. \nDayton and Cincinnati both bring young programs to the table, as do the Hoosiers, while Northwestern brings in some history. Dayton enters in second season of competition and will be closing out its regular season at Lake Lemon as it prepares for the Atlantic 10 Championships next weekend. Cincinnati will make its spring season debut at Lake Lemon, marking the first spring season with women's crew as a varsity sport for the Bearcats. \nBoasting the most experience of any team in the field, Northwestern will enter Saturday's matchup with 20 years of varsity experience. But the Wildcat program has been slumping in recent years. IU defeated Northwestern three times in the fall season.\n"Racing new programs is exciting but we need to realize that there are very good athletes and good coaches preparing them at each university we race," Wilson said. "Cincinnati and Dayton are good solid programs and the racing this weekend will be tough."\nWater polo team begins postseason playoff run\nAlthough the Hoosiers will be the home favorite, they said they understand it will take a team effort to make it past these programs.\n"The Varsity will again have their work ahead of them and will need to race and row in unison to win," Wilson said. "There is no room for mistakes." \nAfter a weekend at home, the water polo team is heading back on the road for the CWPA Southern Division Championships this weekend in Gannon, Pa. \nThe Hoosiers start the weekend 10:10 a.m. Friday against Villanova and then match up with Salem International at 2:50 p.m. \nIn a tournament format, seeding based on those results will determine the remainder of the weekend's opponents.\nThe Hoosiers need to secure at least two victories this weekend to be eligible for the Eastern finals at Brown University. Based on this weekend's results, four teams from the southern division will gain the right to advance to face the top four teams in the northern division in the Eastern finals. The winner at the Eastern finals qualifies for one of the four slots at the 2001 NCAA Water Polo Championships.