At the conclusion of Saturday’s Midwest Rowing Championships, it was easy to see why the UW crew team is ranked as one of the elite programs in the nation.
The Badgers emerged victorious in all 14 events in which they competed, as both the men’s and women’s teams dominated the field. The championships were highlighted with two event records as the men’s open-four B-team finished in a time of 5:54.65 and the open-eight C-team finished in 5:14.4. In both events the Badgers were racing against themselves as UW claimed the top three spots. UW completed a medal-ceremony sweep six times on the afternoon.
In its record run, the nation’s third-ranked varsity eight team bettered the 1996 UW record by 0.2 seconds with the help of a tail wind. The crew consisted of coxswain Mike Lucey and rowers Paul Daniels, Beau Hoopman, Dan Mueller, Micah Boyd, Peter Giese, Mike Niemczyk, Alex Cockerill and Peter Nagle.
In the men’s open-four race the Badgers split up its open-eight teams into four boats. Lucey led the record, setting boat from the coxswain position as he was joined by Mueller, Hoopman, Daniels and Boyd from the record-setting eight-man crew. Their finishing time of 5:54.65 broke UW’s event record, which was set in 1984.
UW’s dominance in the championships was apparent all afternoon as the finals featured a medley of Badger crews after the morning qualifying heats. In many instances, UW was able to separate itself from the rest of the competitors by 10 seconds or more. While the boats in the water were all business, the atmosphere on shore was one of relaxation. Women’s varsity head coach Maren LaLiberty found her biggest challenge in keeping her members focused and reminding them that they still needed to perform.
The team apparently paid attention to LaLiberty’s words as the women’s team posted a strong finish. Led by the varsity openweight-eight crew, which won its 29th race of the season, the Badgers were able to maintain their focus in the all-day regatta. Their time of 6:07.5 was the Badgers’ fastest in five years.
LaLiberty went into the regatta thinking it was her team members’ best opportunity to perform in front of their friends and families and to show that they’re a successful Division I program. The program didn’t let her expectations fail.
“We set performance goals for all the races as well as results goals for all the races, so if they can reach their performance goals as well that would be a success,” LaLiberty said.
The team definitely met its goals, winning the novice eight, lightweight eight, open eight, second open eight, lightweight four, open four, novice four and the double.
Team members used the opportunity of rowing in front of the home crowd as a chance to push each other and to show everyone in the crowd exactly what they do. Although the competition featured a less-than-stellar field, the team enjoyed seeing the shoreline of Lake Wingra filled with spectators.
“It’s fun to race for our family and friends because a lot of people don’t get to see us practicing at six in the morning,” lightweight varsity-four member Jen Howard said.
The performances of both the men’s and the women’s teams were exactly what the Badgers were looking for as the postseason nears.
For the women openweights, the races were a tune-up for the Big Ten championships this Saturday in Ohio. The Badgers look to improve upon last year’s fourth-place finish to finish the season on a high note.
For the men, the regatta was an opportunity to get acclimated with racing at home before this weekend’s tough matchups against Dartmouth and Boston University on Lake Mendota. UW will face Dartmouth Saturday for the Cochrane Cup and Boston University Sunday for the Jablonic Cup before heading to the East Coast to finish its season.
