The No. 12 IU rowing team competed in the Big Ten Rowing Invitational this weekend and took first and second place finishes after not racing for the past two weeks. The Big Ten Invitational featured 16 collegiate women’s rowing teams, eight of which came from the Big Ten. The race took place in Bethel, Ohio, at East Fork State Park. The course was 2,000 meters long.
The race began on Saturday morning with the Novice 8 team, which took a second place finish with a time of 7:05.67, falling just short behind Rutgers. The Varsity 8 team finished Saturday morning in third place with a time of 6:32.44. The Second Varsity team finished in third place with a time of 6:38.79. To cap off the day, the Varsity 4 team finished in fourth with a time of 7:38.87.
After a full morning of racing, all four Hoosier teams raced for a second time on Saturday. All four teams made first place finishes with times under 7 minutes and 30 seconds while moving through rain and facing choppy waters.
Madison Callaway, a junior from the second Novice 8 team, said she's proud of their finishes. Callaway says that after having a slow start to the morning, the team was able to see where it needed to adjust to be able to take first place.
The Hoosiers finished out the competition on Sunday morning with second place finishes from the Varsity and Second Varsity 8 teams and fourth place finishes from the Variety 4 and Novice 8 teams. The Varsity 8 team had a battle against No.11 Rutgers but finished in second place just 5.994 seconds behind the Scarlet Knights. The Second Varsity 8 held a steady second place position for most of the race and finished with a time of 6:46.571. Placing behind Rutgers, Syracuse University and Washington State University, the Varsity 4 team finished in fourth with a time of 7:44.387. Novice 8 finished off the weekend in fourth place with a time of 6:58.488.
Callaway said that the dynamic was different this weekend because two of IU’s athletes were not rowing due to COVID-19. She said she hopes to get more practice with the new change in teammates, so they are better prepared for their next race.
IU rowing has a big weekend next week as it travels to Columbus, Ohio, to compete against Ohio State.
