First spring regatta gives IU 6 wins

The IU rowing team held its first regatta this spring, competing against Dayton, Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan and Louisville Saturday at Lake Lemon.\nThe home opener was a success from the beginning, when the Hoosiers dedicated their new racing shell, dubbed the Chuck Crabb '73, which the Varsity 8 crew now uses.\nBy time the boats docked, the Hoosiers captured six wins, which started from the very beginning of the competition with a three-race sweep.\nThe Novice 4 crew started the day off right, defeating Dayton in 8:16.3. Leading the crew was senior coxswain Heather Weinera and pulling were sophomore Mckenzie Elston and freshmen Rachael Mckeon, Richelle Medellin and Hillary Knapp. \nThe Novice 8 squad brought in two victories for the Hoosiers. Sophomore coxswain Corrie Beck led freshmen rowers Courtney Valerious, Elanie Deppe, Meredith Hanschu, Rosalind McHenry, Stacey Young, Laura Stebbins and Christina Bess and sophomore Kristen Gonsalves to a win over Dayton and Cincinnati with a time of 7:02.8. Later, the same crew rowed for a time of 7:17.4, which was 33 seconds faster than second place Eastern Michigan, with Louisville in third.\nThe Varsity 4 crew of senior coxswain Rebekha Archibald, junior Amanda Tallman, sophomores Erin Kuehn and Jessica Hillsley and freshman Colleen Ryan picked up its first win of the 2004 campaign, with a victory over Cincinnati, rowing a time of 8:04.90.\n"(The win) felt wonder," Archibald said. "The crew worked great together, and we all had a lot of fun. Since I was the coxswain, I got thrown in the water afterwards."\nThe Varsity 8 remains undefeated so far this season after opening wins over North Carolina and Georgetown. The Hoosier team, consisting of senior Line Espedal, juniors Amanda Walker and Kelly Schuiling, sophomores Lauren Anderson, Ashley Airis, Carly Schilling, Laura Lazaridis and Elisabeth Benoit and led by junior coxswain Sarah Meyer, downed both Cincinnati and Dayton with a time of 6:49.40 during the competition's morning session.\nLater in the afternoon, the Varsity 8 went head to head with Eastern Michigan in a back and forth battle for first place. The Hoosiers jumped to the early lead, but as the race came closer to the finish, Eastern Michigan had closed the gap pulling hard. The Hoosiers narrowly won by a time margin of nine-tenths of a second for a time of 6:52.00.\n"Well, we're feeling pretty good right now," Airis said. "We're trying to keep-up beat and our confidence up because sometimes it's hard to keep a positive attitude. Our boat has a lot going for it right now, and we can surprise a lot of crews." \nThe IU rowing team returns to action against Notre Dame and Purdue next Saturday in Indianapolis.\n-- Contact staff writer John Fischer at jbfische@indiana.edu.