Novice and JV Boats Hold their own at John Hunter Regatta

While the 1st Varsity 8+'s raced in San Diego, the Novice and JV squads took on the best in the South at the 29th John Hunter Regatta in Gainesville, GA. The 2000m race was held on the 1996 Olympic course where the Illini had trained the week prior for Spring Training.The Novice Women's 4+'s took to the water first. The 1st Novice Women's 4+ stroked by Spring Novice Erika Stevens and coxed by Andrew Rosenblat trailed race leader Clemson, but held a big lead on the rest of the field finishing 2nd in their heat and advancing directly to the Grand Finals. In the Finals, Clemson once again pulled to the front. Illinois fought well to keep with the pack fighting for second, but by the 1500m the fatigue of the day began to wear on the crew. The Illini fell back to half-a-boat open behind a pack of Kansas, Rollins, and Northwestern who all finished within 0.452 seconds of each in the closest finish of the day. The Illini claimed 5th Overall, directly behind Midwest rivals Northwestern.The 2nd Women's Novice 4+ had a direct Final. The Illini had a shaky start but pulled back into the leading pack by the 1000m, they stayed part of the leading pack through the 1750m when Clemson started to pull to the front. The Illini held on to finish closely behind the two lead boats claiming Bronze in the process.The Women's Novice 8+ struggled in their first 1000m falling behind the pack. Coxswain Lizzy Dabek worked hard to pull the crew back together and the crew began moving back up on the field by the 1500m mark. Unfortunately, the damage was done and the crew finished 6th in their heat. The disappointment was tempered by the fact that the crew did finish with the 8th fastest time from the heats.The Men's Novice 8+ had a good start, but faltered midway through losing contact with the race leaders. The crew slipped back behind Clemson at the 1500m but battled back in the final 250m of the race. The crew managed a last second sprint to pull ahead of Clemson, taking 4th by a margin of 0.289 seconds.The Men's Novice and Varsity 4+'s had similar races to each other, both posting good starts but struggling to keep pace with race leaders. The Novice Men's 4+ finished 5th, while the Varsity Men's 4+ finished 4th just outside of qualifying for the finals. Of note, the Varsity 4+ was populated by the JV 4+ rowers on account of the 1st Varsity racing in San Diego.The whole squad races next in the Don Lubber's Cup in Grand Rapids, MI on April 11th.