Sports

UW women’s rowing team opens season over weekend

The UW women’s crew team seems to be revamping everything for its 2004-05 campaign. The University of Wisconsin hired a new head coach during the off-season in former Michigan State skipper Bebe Bryans. Additionally, contractors continue the building of an $8.35 million crew house.

The rowing team is hoping to get back to the NCAA tournament where they finished 11th last year. To do this, the crew team is looking at eight months of training in front of them. The crew season is comprised of a fall season and a spring season. Fall regattas are usually longer and do not count toward the NCAA championship.

The fall season holds such prestigious regattas as the Head of the Charles, an annual race on the Charles River in Boston.

“The fall season is basically to get us in rowing shape for the spring,” lightweight rower Eva Payne said. “But everyone wants to win the Head of the Charles.”

Openweight rower Julie Quoss is looking to improve on the teams 11th place finish last year and looks at the Big Ten for some of the biggest competition.

“Michigan and Ohio State always have good teams,” Quoss said. “We play Big Ten schools before we play Ivy League teams and California schools.”

Team captain Shannon Gedman says the team has only one goal in mind: to get back to the NCAA finals and perform even better.