The IU rowing team competed in the Big Ten/Ivy League Double-Dual on Friday and Saturday in Ann Arbor, Michigan marking its first competition of the 2019 season.
The Big Ten representatives were the No. 18 IU, No. 9 Michigan and unranked Michigan State. The Ivy League participants were No. 5 Yale University and No. 19 Harvard University.
The action started Friday afternoon on Belleville Lake. Michigan took the first event of the day, the Second Novice Eight. IU came behind them by just three seconds, recording a time of 7:16.1.
IU fared well Friday, placing second in four events and third in two events. The closest IU got to first was in the Second Varsity Eight, trailing Yale by 2.8 seconds.
After the first race, Yale took over. The Bulldogs went on to place first in the remaining five events: First Novice Eight, Second Varsity Four, First Varsity Four, Second Varsity Eight and the First Varsity Eight. It won without much challenge from the field, its closest win being by two seconds. Yale took the Second Varsity Eight by 13 seconds, its biggest time differential of the day.
After winning the first event, the Wolverines failed to finish in the top three in the remaining races, getting taken over by Michigan State. The Spartans placed third in three events, and snagged two second place finishes to close out the day.
After a strong day one, IU turned it into another gear on day two. After finishing third in the first two events, the Hoosiers swept the remaining four.
IU dominated the First Varsity Four, winning by nearly eight seconds. Michigan State gave them a challenge in the Second Varsity Four, but still fell four seconds behind. To close out the day, IU won the First Novice Eight by 10 seconds and the Second Novice Eight by six seconds.
On Saturday, it was another Ivy League team that looked ready to take over. Harvard came out strong winning the first two events, the First Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Eight. Its wins were much closer than its Ivy League counterpart, taking the races by just two and three seconds over Michigan State.
The Spartans would place second in the first four races of the day before falling back into third for the remaining two. With six second place finishes and six third place finishes, the unranked Spartans showed they can compete with the best teams in rowing.
IU will have next weekend off and will use that time to practice and prepare for its next event. IU resumes action on the road April 13 in Iowa City, Iowa for another double-dual, this one an all Big Ten affair featuring Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
