IU was going back to the NCAA Championship
The Hoosiers had earned an at-large bid to the 2016 NCAA Championships. This is the third year in a row and the third time ever the Hoosiers will be competing for the national trophy.
The championship will take place May 27-29 in Gold River, California. This is the second year in a row that Gold River will play host to the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships, and the Hoosiers are prepared for the regatta.
“We are already having the women stay up a little bit later and sleep a little bit longer to try to get them acclimated to the time change,” Head Coach Steve Peterson said.
Peterson said one of their biggest challenges will be getting the boats to California since it is a three-day drive and that means three days without practicing with their boats.
Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio State, will be the other Big Ten teams joining the Hoosiers in Sacramento. Ohio State has won the last three NCAA championships. Peterson said if IU has a rival in the championships it’s Wisconsin because of how close their times have been the past three years.
The Hoosiers graduated three rowers and a coxswain from last year’s team who had almost a full boat returning from the previous year.
“With the people we graduated last year, we have a lot of new pieces,” Peterson said. “So I think our biggest challenge has really been getting the crew performing together consistently. The mental position we’re in is a little bit stronger this year and a lot of that is due to the fact that we have been to the NCAAs twice before.”
