Rowing takes 3rd in Dale England Cup

The IU rowing team finished third in the fifth-annual Dale England Cup on Saturday at Lake Lemon in Bloomington for its final regular season regatta.

The Hoosiers finished behind No. 10 Notre Dame and conference rival Iowa, but were able to come out ahead of Alabama. IU swept Alabama in the Saturday morning session.

IU’s best boat was the First Novice Eight. The squad won all three of their races, including one against a tough Notre Dame team Saturday afternoon. The First Novice Eight closed the season being undefeated at home.

Freshman Caroline Comey of the First Novice Eight said grit and determination her team’s greatest strengths.

“I think our boat roles with the punches very well and we work very well together which is probably the biggest reason to our success,” Comey said. “Our race Saturday afternoon was tough, and it defiantly turned into a race of who could handle the conditions the best and not who was purely physically stronger. I’m proud of my boat because we handled the conditions well for how bad it was and we toughed it out.”

Another highlight of the regatta was that IU’s Third Varsity Four crossed ahead of Notre Dame with a time of 9:26.8 to finish second. The Second Varsity Four finished in second with a time of 9:46.6, ahead of Notre Dame ‘B’ but behind Notre Dame ‘A.’

IU Coach Steve Peterson said the team went into the weekend hoping to really capitalize against Iowa. IU’s First Varsity Four, Second Varsity Eight and First Varsity Eight lost to Iowa and Notre Dame over the three sessions. The First Varsity Eight was neck-and-neck with Iowa throughout the length of the course Friday afternoon, but Iowa was able to push ahead in the last 500 meters.  

Peterson said those three squads did well, but he expected a little more out of his top boats.

“I think coming into it we knew that Notre Dame was going to be fast, but we felt that Iowa and Alabama were crews that we needed to beat,” Peterson said. “We did that with Alabama, but we didn’t do the job with Iowa. So, I think people stepped up nicely this morning, but the conditions this afternoon ... We did not handle it well.”

Despite beautiful weather on Friday and Saturday morning, the wind rolled in just in time for the afternoon session. Choppy waters made the rowing extremely difficult, and the fatigue was visible on the faces of the rowers when they returned back to dry land.

Peterson said he had hoped his team would handle the rough waters a little better than they did.

“I don’t think we handled the conditions well, but at the same time, everyone was dealing with the same conditions,” Peterson said. “It’s not like we had some unfair disadvantage. When it gets like that it becomes a lot more situational, of who can handle the conditions better. That’s something that was in our control that we didn’t specifically do, and something we need to work on.”

IU will use the next four weeks to prepare for the Big Ten Rowing Championships, which will take place May 19 at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis.