One last chance before Big Tens

The Hoosiers will travel to Indianapolis this weekend for their final tune up before the Big Ten Championships next week. The 2003 Indianapolis Collegiate Invitational was originally for Big Ten schools only, but has opened to accept all collegiate entries. The Hoosiers will be seeing common Big Ten opponents in Northwestern, Purdue, and Ohio State along with non-conference foes Murray State, Grand Valley State, Xavier, Eastern Michigan, Colorado, and Washington University -- St. Louis. Freshman Kati Peiss said she feels the team is ready for the regatta.\n"After a hard week of practice, I think that we are ready to go to Indianapolis and race our own race," she said in a statement. "We have been focusing on practicing how we want to race, bringing up the stroke rating and putting more power into every stroke. I think we all will do well this upcoming weekend."\nThe Hoosiers have spent the last week of practice working on their fundamentals. The team has worked on improving its stroke rating and driving with the legs in an effort to get more push off every stroke. Wilson said the basics are what make the difference come race day.\n"This week, we went back to the basics," he said. "We've been focusing on the leg drive and how the boat moves. We know how important the leg drive is. We've just been working on being effective."\nThe competition this weekend isn't as tight as it has been in the past few weeks, but the team still expects some tough racing. Aside from the normal Big Ten foes, Eastern Michigan, Washington University -- St. Louis, and Murray State figure to give the Hoosiers the most non-conference competition. Wilson said he expects a tough race despite facing a number of smaller schools.\n"With the smaller schools, you never know what you'll see," he said. "The main competition is going to be Eastern Michigan and Purdue. Grand Valley State is a sleeper, and Washington-St. Louis is pretty good as well."\nIf there's been one theme for the Hoosiers season up to this point, it would be improvement. Despite mixed results, the team has been gradually bettering their performance in every race. Sophomore Kelly Schuiling said in a press release the team has been working hard to get where it is now.\n"Since the fall season, we have made so many strides as a team," she said. "Everyone has worked so hard this year to make it our best year ever. The amount of progress is amazing. We are able to compete this year with teams we have never been close to before such as Kansas and Cincinnati."\nThe Indianapolis Collegiate Invitational will be Saturday in Eagle Creek. The event is being hosted by the Indianapolis Rowing Center.