Hoosiers' rowing season back onboard

After a long winter hiatus, the IU women's rowing team jumped back into action at the Clemson Regatta on Saturday. The meet concluded the squad's spring break training trip, which was held from March 11 to 18. The event showcased Clemson Universitiy, Marist College, Pennsylvania, Purdue and IU in Clemson, S.C. \nCoach Steve Peterson said in a statement the regatta would be a positive starting point for the relatively young team.\n"I feel like if we are at the level where we need to be, we should be able to beat those crews. Not easily, but we should," he said in a statement. "Our numbers are small, but the novices and recruits have been making significant improvements."\nThe first novice squad won the spring season's first race with a time of 7:06.1. Following closely behind the cream and crimson were Clemson (7:10.7), Marist (7:51.0) and Purdue, whose two boats took fifth and sixth place. \nA second Hoosier squad took third place in the second novice division.\nNotably, the 1V8 team completed its race second (6:49.0), behind Clemson's time of 6:46.9. Penn (6:52.8), Marist (6:58.4) and Purdue (7:05.5) finished behind the Hoosiers.\nIU's 1V4 team earned second place honors just behind Penn's 7:48.4 time, while IU's 2V4 squad finished in fifth place in its respective heat. \n"Our varsity had a good race today," assistant coach Carmen Mirochna said in a statement. "I thought it was a great first race for all of the Hoosiers. Clemson came ready to race, and we gave them our best for now." \nThe young squad has a lengthy history to live up to, with the many honors the team has received in past years. The Hoosiers sealed sixth place at last year's championship on Lake Lemon at Riddle Point Park. Their varsity 8+ shell took Big Ten's Boat of the Week on March 18, a first since forming the program five years ago.\nPeterson said he is "cautiously optimistic" about the future.\n"This spring is going to be interesting," he said. "We have been dealing with a ton of injuries. That being said, I do feel like we are still going to have a pretty good season."\nThe Hoosiers will travel to meet Big Ten foe Michigan State Saturday in East Lansing, Mich.