Rowing

The Gophers women’s rowing team captured the Burning Blade on Sunday at Lake Mendota in Madison, Wis., beating No. 14 Wisconsin’s first varsity eight crew.

But the rest of the three-team regatta belonged to the Badgers.

Wisconsin won five of six races Sunday, proving why it’s the third-ranked team in the Big Ten.

“Right now, Wisconsin would score higher than us at [the Big Ten championships],” Gophers head coach Wendy Davis said. “We’re going to need to work on finding some speed in some of our other boats.”

The Gophers rowing teams had a successful weekend at the Clemson Invitational in Clemson, S.C., despite a hectic travel schedule.

The team recorded four top-three finishes and won one event — a second varsity eight heat Saturday afternoon.

But the Gophers nearly didn’t make it there.

They were scheduled to fly out of Minneapolis in two shifts Thursday. The first shift got out without problem, but the second group’s flight was canceled.

The unusual spring weather has been a blessing and a curse for the Gophers women’s rowing team.

Cold weather has limited snowmelt into the Mississippi River, allowing the team to practice on the river almost every day.

“Because the river has opened up and there’s no ice on it, we can do whatever we want,” head coach Wendy Davis said.

In past years, high levels of snowmelt have created unsafe rowing conditions on the Mississippi, forcing the Gophers to practice on nearby lakes, which are often windier.

The Gophers women’s rowing team was eager to prove its merit this weekend against No. 18 Louisville.

It’ll have to wait another week to do so.

A set of heavy winds and 18-inch whitecaps on Lake Macbride in Solon, Iowa, led to the cancelation of Saturday’s meet against Louisville, No. 15 Wisconsin and unranked Iowa.

Minnesota will face Louisville next weekend as part of the 19-team Clemson Invitational.

The Gophers women’s rowing team has used many rowers in its top boat since 2008.

But senior Cassie Drozynski has been one of the mainstays on the top boat, the first varsity eight.

Drozynski, a two-time all-Big Ten honoree, started rowing on the first varsity eight during the 2008-09 season. After redshirting last season to take pre-physical therapy courses, she returned to the team’s top crew this fall.

The Gophers rowing team defeated Tennessee over the weekend, winning all of its races in Knoxville, Tenn.

The Gophers have won 19 of their 24 races this spring.  They won 15 of 20 races at their first meet of the spring season, the Oklahoma Invite.

Minnesota head coach Wendy Davis said the team looked a lot sharper than it did two weeks ago in Oklahoma City. 

“We rowed more as one unit today,” Davis said. 

The Gophers women’s rowing team faced a “smorgasbord” of weather conditions this weekend at the Oklahoma Invitational in Oklahoma City, according to head coach Wendy Davis.

But the conditions didn’t stop the Gophers from making their first event of the spring successful.

The Gophers won three-fourths of their races, notching victories over Kansas, Tulsa, Kansas State and Oklahoma.  The team’s first and second varsity eight boats went 6-0 during the weekend. 

Torrential rain bogged down and eventually canceled the Gophers women’s rowing team’s second meet of the fall season Sunday in Rockford, Ill.

“[It was] supremely windy, a little bit of white-capping when our [rowing] pairs were coming down,” Gophers coach Wendy Davis said. 

The weather prevented Minnesota’s top boat from competing in the Head of the Rock meet, as the competition was first postponed and then canceled Sunday afternoon. But what Davis did see from her squad, she didn’t necessarily like.