No. 16 Indiana rowing had an impressive showing this past weekend, winning 16 races at the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational, hosted by the University of Louisville. The regatta took place on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Saturday and Sunday.
The Hoosiers went up against crews from No. 13 Duke University, Wisconsin, University of Alabama, Clemson University, the United States Naval Academy, the University of North Carolina, the University of Notre Dame and the University of San Diego.
The highlight of the weekend came from the Varsity Eight (V8) crew, which swept all three of its races across both days.
Led by senior Katherine Nelson (coxswain), senior Sophie Bowden (stroke) and freshman Maddison Shanks (bow), the Hoosiers finished with a time of 6:20.564 Saturday morning. In the afternoon, Indiana squeezed by Duke (6:19.715) with a time of 6:18.639 before concluding its run Sunday afternoon with a time of 6:21.580 to complete the sweep.
They weren’t the only crew of Hoosiers to go perfect this weekend, as the Varsity Four (V4), Third Varsity Four (3V4) and Second Novice Eight (2N8) went undefeated in their respective regattas, while the Varsity Four (V4) crew triumphed in both of its Saturday races.
IU amassed a 27-4 head-to-head record Saturday and a 12-2 record Sunday to finish 39-6 across all three sessions, finishing in first or second in every race except one, in which it finished third.
The Hoosiers’ rowing squad looks to build on their success this weekend on March 23, when they travel to Camden, New Jersey, for the Big Ten-Ivy League Duel. They will face No. 7-ranked University of Pennsylvania and No. 11-ranked Syracuse University in the morning before wrapping up the regatta against No. 5 Yale University in the afternoon.
