I
'M' takes
seventh
at the
Charles
By Sara Livingston
Daily Sports Writer
History shows that the Michigan
women's rowing team always places
well at the Head of the Charles, the
world's largest rowing competition. In
2001, the women's eight-person boat
came in sixth place. In 2002, it finished
eighth. This year was no exception.
The 2004 women's eight boat
swerved through a field of 42 teams,
including the U.S. National Team and
the ASR Nereus - the Dutch National
Team - to finish in seventh place this
Sunday.
The Wolverines finished with a time
of 12:25.313, just 18.65 seconds behind
the first-place boat, the ASR Nereus.
In the championship women's four-
person race, the Michigan boat - led
by coxswain Julia Dalzell - placed
ninth in a race containing 20 boats,
including one from the prestigious
London Training Center. The LTC won
the race with a time of 13:32.448, while
the Wolverines came in at 14:21.183.
Both boats came into the race
expecting to place in the top 10, hoping
to get off to a solid start for the upcom-
ing spring season.
"Our boat is mostly seniors and
juniors and it's going to be a good indi-
cation of how we are going to perform
in the spring," senior rower Cristin
McCarty said.
The majority of the rowers on Mich-
igan's 12-person squad are upperclass-
men who saw this regatta as a great
opportunity to further bond with their
teammates.
Michigan head coach Mark Roth-
stein also views this regatta as a way to
gauge the team's progress so far.
"This gives us a great opportunity
FILE PHOTO/Daily
The Michigan rowing team finished in seventh place at the Head of the Charles.
to see where we stack up against other
college teams from around the coun-
try," Rothstein said.
"I wanted us to find ourselves in
the top group, and I think we did an
outstanding job based on how we per-
formed."
Senior coxswain Tara Medina -
who led the women's eight boat - was
ecstatic about the speed her boat had
throughout the race.
"During the race, Harvard was in
front of us and we were never neck and
neck," Medina said.
"But I could see as the race pro-
gressed that we were gaining ground
on Harvard. That let us know that we
were going faster than them, and it was
awesome to see that we were getting
faster throughout the race."
The energy flowing along the river
gave the athletes a mixture of emotions
and energy during both practice runs
and the regatta itself.
"Yesterday, during a run, (the
crowd) definitely had an impact on us,"
McCarty said. "People were playing
loud music, yelling at us and calling our
names and stuff, and that's not exactly
the environment at the other regattas
because we are never that close to the
crowd."
"A lot of people were nervous, and
we realized that it was a factor that we
were definitely going to have to deal
with. We focused a lot on our own
boats and just ignore everything else
and it worked really well."
Medina said: "The environment
makes it difficult at times to focus. We
enjoy the event, but at the same time,
it's more challenging than other events
because of everything that's going on."
The Michigan rowing team travels
to Elkhart, Ind. to row in the Head of
the Elk.
Bauer impresses,
earns spot on team
By H. Jose Bosch
Daily Staff Writer
On a nippy fall afternoon Friday,
H Buhr Park played host to the EMU
Classic, where the Michigan men's
cross country team competed in its
final meet - a nonscoring meet -
before the Big Ten Championships.
Only runners who did not already
have a spot for Big Tens ran in this
weekend's meet.
"It was supposed to help me make
a decision about who my ninth man
would be for the Big Ten (Champi-
onship)," Michigan coach Ron War-
hurst said. "You never know how it's
going to play out."
After the first mile of the race,
it appeared Warhurst would have a
very tough decision.
Four of the first five runners were
wearing the "M," and the runners
continued to stay together through
the first 5,000 meters. But the field
of unattached runners began to break
through the pack, and soon just one
man was left to pace the Wolverines
- junior Andrew Bauer.
Bauer ran the 8k course in a time
of 25:25, good for second overall in
the race and first among the Michi-
gan runners.
"It's a really tough course, and
nobody likes it," Bauer said. "It's
hilly, and the footing is bad. But I
just focused on the race and focused
on the guys in front of me."
Not only did Bauer's performance
earn him second place in the race,
but he also earned the ninth spot on
the Michigan team that will travel to
Iowa City for the Big Ten Champion-
ship next week.
"It wasn't strictly who was first,
second or third, but it was how
the race was run," Warhurst said.
"I'm pretty impressed with the way
Bauer ran."
The rest of the team also ran well,
with three other Michigan runners
finishing in the top-10. Senior Sean
Moore came in fifth with a time of
25:53, followed by freshman Seth
Thibodeau, who came in sixth with
a time of 26:03.
Sophomore Brain Les rounded out
the top-10 finishers - coming in
eighth overall with a time of 26:06.
But the race belonged to Bauer,
and his performance ended a week
of anxiety.
"It's a lot of weight off my shoul-
ders." Bauer said. "I've been think-
ing about it all week.
"I was nervous last night, and I
couldn't sleep that well. But it paid
off."
Bauer will be sleeping well with
images of himself at the Big Ten
Championships running through
his head.
ALEXANDER DZIADOSZ/Daily
Junior Andrew Bauer earned the ninth
spot on Michigan's team as it heads into
the Big Ten Championship.
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