Dale England Cup taking place at home for Hoosiers

For the second time this season, the IU rowing team will not face any top-20 opponents in a competition as it welcomes Duke, Rhode Island and Central Florida to Bloomington Friday and Saturday for the fourth annual Dale England Cup.

Duke enters the race as the highest-ranked opponent, receiving 12 votes in the CRCA/US Rowing Coaches Poll, with the Hoosiers coming in behind the Blue Devils with 11.
 
“One of the goals we have for this race is to bring in people from various regions all over the country,” IU Coach Steve Peterson said in an interview with IUHoosiers.com.

“We’ve done that, which is good. Duke is perhaps the fastest of the three. They just finished third at the ACC Championships last weekend. They should present a real good challenge.”

The last time Indiana went into a competition with no ranked opponents was March 25 at the Indiana Invitational. Notre Dame, the team that won the Invitational, is now ranked No. 15 but was not ranked at the time of the event.

In this weekend’s competition, the Hoosiers hope to be able to capitalize on their home advantage at Lake Lemon, according to sophomore varsity rower Asja Zero.

“Not only are we at home, but with our own crowd and fans, having the advantage of being the host to these crews and knowing the lake like the back of our hand is a pretty good feeling,” Zero said. “We will set our minds on racing and still keeping the focus on rowing well, which has been one of our good things that we have been doing this season.”

Indiana has won one of the three previous Dale England Cups, capturing the victory in 2010. Michigan State won in 2009 and 2011 but is not among this year’s competitors.
Peterson said he remains pleased with how the Dale England Cup has evolved during the years.

“It has really turned into what we hoped it would be,” he said in an interview with IUHoosiers.com. “For the team, for the athletes, it’s great racing in front of their family and friends. And I think, also, for the people who come out to watch, it’s a great opportunity to see good racing.”

This is also the final competition for the Hoosiers before the Big Ten Championships in Indianapolis.
 
This weekend is the final chance for the Hoosiers to wrap up any polishing touches to their strategy before going into their biggest race weekend of the season.

“We’re obviously trying to nail down lineups and make sure we have the people we want on the various crews,” Peterson told IUHoosiers.com. “It’s also our last opportunity to really work on race strategy and race plan. It’s actually kind of like your final exam, in a way, before you hit the real thing, which is the Big Ten Championships.”

— Robby Howard