Illini Indoor Champions Crowned

The 3rd Annual Illini Indoor was completed on Saturday February 12th. This home indoor rowing race among teammates serves as the final prep for the Chicago Indoor and rewards athletes with bragging rights and trophy hammers for first place in each category. The real hammers, engraved with the team logo, are similar to those given out in other major indoor rowing races around the world, most notably C.R.A.S.H.-B. in Boston each year.The first flight to go off was the Novice Men's and Women's race. The race was lead by Steve Smith for 1950m, until teammate Nick Van Antwerp caught up in the dying seconds. The two battled side-by-side right up to the end, with Nick just edging out Steve by 0.2 seconds to claim the first hammer of the day. Nick had previously won the Novice Men's category at the St. Louis Indoor, where Steve had finished 4th behind fellow teammate Ray Urban and a competitor from Wash U.On the Women's side of the race, rower Dani Saubert broke the team record she had set earlier in the season, earning a time of 7:19.7. This puts her in excellent position to break the record at the Chicago Indoor later this month. Teammate Meridith Kisting broke her own personal record with a time of 7:54, only two seconds slower one of the Novice Men.The Varsity Men rowed last for individual racing, with Chris Marr leading the whole way to capture his season record and second hammer. Chris had won the Novice Men's event last year and becomes one of only three people in team history to capture the title twice.After individual racing, the rowers teamed up for the relay race, with four athletes (3 men and 1 women) each racing a leg of the 4x500m race. Athletes had to change quickly as the timer keeps ticking even as they switch. The lead swapped after the first piece, but the team consisting of Dani Saubert, Ben Feicht, Ray Urban, and Leonel Ocampo captured first with a time of 6:14.