April 29, 2012

Photo Gallery  | Results

The University of Minnesota women's rowing team hosted its lone home event of the season Sunday morning vs. Wisconsin, with the Gophers' first varsity four picking up the only win of the day for the host squad in front of a sizeable crowd at Lake Phalen in St. Paul.

"Wisconsin was faster than us in most of the events, but we did win in the varsity four, which is great. We are really excited about that," head coach Wendy Davis said following the event. "Our second varsity eight was also as close as 1.3 seconds, but the rest of the races weren't quite as close as we would have liked."

The team of coxswain Jacqueline Stein, Leah Rogotzke, Melissa Drezdzon, Jaime Friscia and Katherine Moran crossed the finish line 4.0 seconds ahead of the Badgers in a time of 7:42.01 to claim the win.

"It was amazing," Stein said of the victory. "We trained all season for this, so it was great to put in the work and finally get results. We really fed off the support that was here today. It was really cool passing shore and hearing everybody scream."

The second varsity eight of coxswain Sara Baldvins, Kathryn Switalski, Christine Beauparlant, Kayla Thom, Tabitha Andelin, Caitlin Boon, Sarah Sobek, Maddy Bourgeois and Katie Anderson missed a victory in its event by a mere 1.31 seconds, finishing in 6:56.62.

In the main event of the morning, the first varsity eight of Emilie Sabourin, Ellen Hughes, Molly Kalmoe, Ali Haws, Rebecca Braak, Lynn Hodnet, Katherine Windsor, Becky Kinchen and Rachel Sartor finished second with a time of 6:57.01, just 7.93 seconds behind the No. 6-ranked Badgers.

The second varsity four finished third behind two Wisconsin boats in 8:18.84, while the Gophers' second novice eight also finished in third place by clocking in at 7:53.99.

Minnesota's first novice eight posted a time of 7:25.48 to earn second-place honors.

The Maroon and Gold will have a weekend off, before heading to Indianapolis, Ind., for the Big Ten Championships on Sunday, May 13.

-UM-