Squad cruises to 2nd-place finish

While first place is sweeter than second, IU rowing coach Steve Peterson was more than satisfied with the taste of a second-place finish after the team was host to its third annual Dale England Cup on Friday and Saturday.

Following a first-place finish in last year’s cup, IU finished second to nationally ranked Michigan State’s 120 points with a total of 100 while beating out Boston University and Gonzaga’s 78 and 62, respectively.

“Going into it, we knew Michigan State was going to be the biggest challenge,” Peterson said. “They’re top 10 in the country and arguably the best in the Big Ten. They swept us, but we were really close to them in all of the races, which is by far the best Indiana has ever done against Michigan State or a nationally ranked opponent.”

IU was matched against Gonzaga in Friday’s session, Boston in Saturday morning’s and Michigan State for Saturday afternoon.

After a strong performance of sweeping both Gonzaga and Boston, IU found itself tied with Michigan State for first place heading into the final session. It could not hold on to defend its 2010 title, however, after Michigan State pulled away in a series of competitive contests.

The race with the highest point value featured IU’s first Varsity 8 team, which was recently named Big Ten Boat of the Week. The race ended as one of the closest in the entire event with Michigan State winning by a mere 4.1 seconds.

Peterson said the second half of the race is where his team must improve the most to become a stronger unit.

“The first half of the race we’ve kind of got mapped out in how we want to do it,” he said. “But in general the next phase we need to work on is becoming more aggressive through the second half of the race and definitely the sprinting at the end.”

Ultimately, Peterson said the cup’s results gave his squad optimism and confidence as it prepares for more competitions and the Big Ten battle at the end of the year.

“That’s going to continue to prepare us better and better as we move toward the Big Ten,” he said. “We’ve got good competition over the next few weeks, and I think it’s going to help us develop and prepare.”