Tough conference opponents spoil return home

It was a disappointing return home for the IU rowing team, IU Coach Steve Peterson said.

The No. 20 Hoosiers were swept in the Big Ten Double Dual on Saturday, losing to Minnesota 46-23 in the morning with the exact same result coming in the afternoon against No. 12 Wisconsin at Lake Lemon in Riddle Point Park northeast of Bloomington.

IU failed to win a single race all day in both meets, losing a total of 12 head-to-head races.

“We didn’t row to our full potential, especially against Minnesota,” Peterson said. “So I think that was a little bit of a disappointment, taking nothing away from Minnesota.”

These were the first two losses of the season for Indiana’s first Varsity 8, winner of two of the last three Big Ten Boat of the Week Awards. The crew finished 6.1 seconds behind Minnesota and 10.2 seconds behind Wisconsin.

“Losing sucks, nobody likes to lose, and we all were really upset after the race because we all believed we could have and should have won,” said senior first Varsity 8 rower Cara Donley. “Our boat was not satisfied with our race. We got together and talked about which areas to fix in order to have a better second race.”

The first Varsity 8 race also had the highest point total assigned to it in the head-to-head competition for the day.

IU lost its six races against Minnesota by an average of 17 seconds, inflated by margins of longer than 25 seconds in the Varsity 4 and second Varsity 4 races.

The other four races were within 10-second margins. The closest race was the second Varsity 8, in which the Hoosiers finished 5.7 seconds behind the Gophers.

“We are a fast crew, and we knew we can perform better than we did against Minnesota,” Donley said.

Minnesota had recently fallen out of the rankings after being ranked No. 18 earlier in the season.

Wisconsin presented an even greater challenge, defeating IU by an average of 26.1 seconds during the six races. Again, the second Varsity 8 was the most competitive, as the Hoosiers finished 4.9 seconds behind the Badgers. Aside from the first Varsity 8, all other Hoosier crews finished more than 30 seconds behind the Badgers.

The second Varsity 8 also finished with a better time than the first Varsity 8 against the Badgers.

“We’ve been kind of waiting for them to come out of their shell the past few weeks,” Peterson said of the second Varsity 8. “I think we just started to see it. I still think they have another gear in them. “It’s going to be fun to watch them the rest of the year. It’s just like the first Varsity 4. They still have a lot of speed in them.”

The Hoosiers had two weeks to prepare for this meet, the longest break they will have had until preparing for the Big Ten Championships. It was also one of the Hoosiers’ two home events for the season.

No. 7 Ohio State rounded out the lineup for the Double Dual Meet but did not compete against IU. The Buckeyes beat Wisconsin 43-26 in the first session, then defeated Minnesota 44-25 in the afternoon.

“I think a lot of these teams, and the margins between them, relative to Minnesota and Wisconsin, are definitely not insurmountable by any means,” Peterson said. “We just have to keep working and focus on what’s going to make us faster."