Varsity rowers take 1st in Clemson

Senior Amanda Walker, the stroke in the IU rowing team's top boat, knew the assignment for the Hoosiers' training trip to Clemson, S.C. They had to prepare for a race at the end of the week instead of their usual scrimmage. \n"We have to put it together over spring break," she said in the IU weight room on the team's last hard day of practice before departing Bloomington. \nThat they did. The top boat -- also known as Varsity 8 -- triumphed Saturday at the Clemson Challenge regatta, covering the 2,000-meter course in calm water on Lake Hartwell in 6:53.00. Clemson placed second in 7:02.3 and Purdue third in 7:07.5. University of Buffalo came in fourth in 7:08.2, then Marist College in 7:26.5.\nIU got off to a powerful start and pulled to a four-seat lead by the 500-meter mark. The Hoosiers had an open-water advantage over Clemson at the midway point and cruised to an easy victory against the Tigers.\n"We rowed our own race at a strength we know how to row," said junior Ashley Airis. \nIU coach Steve Peterson drilled the team on its starts in the days prior to the contest and attributes the victory to the way the crew got off the line. \n"The good start kept us in the race and allowed us to relax and motor away from them when we got to the middle of the race," he said.\nPeterson knew his team would be stronger than the five crews on the line, so he was not concerned with a high stroke rating this early in the season. In practice during the week, he focused on developing a race rhythm and set a cap at 34 strokes per minute. \n"I wanted us to think of rowing well before we think of rowing higher," Peterson said.\nIU's second Varsity 8 finished its race in second place in 7:11.6, after Clemson's winning time of 6:59:6, while its third Varsity 8 came in sixth in the same event in 7:31.0, ahead of Purdue's seventh-place time of 7:36.5.\nThe Novice 8 crew, in its first intercollegiate contest, grabbed fourth place for the Hoosiers with a 7:32.9 finish behind Clemson's first-place time of 7:16.5. \nIU novice coach Fran O'Rourke said her crew's initial performance leaves her optimistic for the balance of the schedule. \n"Considering the experience, we're looking forward to making some improvements and picking up a lot of speed," she said.\nWhile the race signals the beginning of the racing season for the Hoosiers, it also means the end of the winter conditioning period with little time on the water and lots of time in the gym and on rowing machines. \n"It's a really good feeling and we're relieved," Airis said. "We're excited about how the season might go."\nThe trip and the victory get the momentum going in the right direction for the Hoosiers.\n"It was a good week, a great day," Peterson said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Bill Meehan at wmeehan@indiana.edu.