REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. – After a narrow loss to No. 2 Washington on day one, the Wisconsin men's rowing team looked to fire back on the second day of racing at the Stanford Invite. Wisconsin challenged No. 1 California in the morning, followed by No. 20 Oregon State in the afternoon.

The Badgers started their morning with a difficult task, and though they were unable to claim any wins over California, they continued to show strong efforts.

"Cal beat us pretty good," said head coach Chris Clark. "However, I thought the second and third varsity really had good races."

UW's third varsity hit the water first, finishing with a time of 5:59.7, about nine seconds behind California's time of 5:50.6. The second varsity took to the water next. California's second varsity finished with a time of 5:43.0 to knock off Wisconsin's crew by about eight seconds. The Badgers finished with a time of 5:51.3.

Wisconsin's varsity eight squad appeared to struggle a bit more against California. In an attempt to pull back on aggressive stroking from yesterday's racing, UW quickly fell behind and could not catch up.

"Cal was 37 strokes a minute and we were about 35," added Clark. "Cal smacked us good by about 15 seconds and the men were obviously upset about it knowing they could have done a lot better than that." 

In addition to this change of pace, most of the varsity eight crew is new to the top lineup. With only one current Badger ever listed in the varsity boat before, the squad is learning to find their new rhythm.

"We got the blind leading the blind here and their learning curve is high and fast," Clark noted. "It's almost like an overgrown freshman crew, and the good news about that is that they'll learn quick, they're extremely eager and they're excited about being in the first eight." 

The Badgers headed into the afternoon ready to put the past behind them and change momentum. They rebounded from their difficult morning with an exciting sweep of No. 20 Oregon State. Wisconsin's varsity eight crew led the way by finishing with a time of 5:44.8.

"The challenge for varsity eight was to come back against Oregon State and they really did," Clark said. "They went six or seven seconds faster than their fastest time of the regatta and beat Oregon State by about seven or eight seconds, which was a great comeback."

UW's second varsity eight rowed to a 20 second victory as they finished with a time of 5:48.2 versus Oregon State's finish time of 6:08.7.

Wisconsin's third varsity eight boat rounded out the day with an intense race. They finished with a time of 5:50.2 while Oregon State finished close behind at 5:52.7.

"It was an excellent performance against Oregon State," Clark said. "The objective was to come out of this weekend more prepared for later racing and we certainly did that." 

The Badgers continue their spring season next weekend as they host the Devil's Lake Intrasquad in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

Stanford Invitational
Redwood Shores, Calif.
April 15, 2017
2,000 meters

Wisconsin vs. No. 1 California

Men's Varsity Eight
1. California, 5:36.0; 2. Wisconsin, 5:51.7

Wisconsin Lineup: Michael Callahan (cox), John Hollow, Alex Butler, Tristan Amberger, James Bernard, Andrew Griffin, Jonah Van der Weide, Andrew Flannery, Erik Kernozek

Men's Second Varsity Eight
1. California, 5:43.0; 2. Wisconsin, 5:51.3

Wisconsin Lineup: Andrew Hamilton (cox), Nick Montalvo, Laing Wise, Nathan Peterson, Sam Weeks, Kyle McCarthy, James Lueken, Alex Idarraga, Thomas Walker

Men's Third Varsity Eight
1. California, 5:50.6, 2. Wisconsin, 5:59.7

Wisconsin Lineup: James Roen (cox), Dylan Adams, Steve Knopp, Kyle James, Graham Mink, Zach Ruedinger, Jacob Hurlbutt, Tim Glennon, Christoph Bub

Wisconsin vs. No. 20 Oregon State

Men's Varsity Eight
1. Wisconsin, 5:44.8; 2. Oregon State, 5:51.7

Wisconsin Lineup: Michael Callahan (cox), John Hollow, Alex Butler, Tristan Amberger, James Bernard, Andrew Griffin, Jonah Van der Weide, Andrew Flannery, Erik Kernozek

Men's Second Varsity Eight
1. Wisconsin, 5:48.2; 2. Oregon State, 6:08.7

Wisconsin Lineup: Andrew Hamilton (cox), Nick Montalvo, Laing Wise, Nathan Peterson, Sam Weeks, Kyle McCarthy, James Lueken, Alex Idarraga, Thomas Walker

Men's Third Varsity Eight
1. Wisconsin, 5:50.2; 2. Oregon State, 5:52.7

Wisconsin Lineup: James Roen (cox), Dylan Adams, Steve Knopp, Kyle James, Graham Mink, Zach Ruedinger, Jacob Hurlbutt, Tim Glennon, Christoph Bub