University of Nebraska-Lincoln Crew: May 2013

It's been quite the semester at Nebraska Crew! We've had our ups and downs and below we'll give you the recap of what we've been up to this semester.

Our first intercollegiate competition in Topeka, KS at the Pepsi Indoor Rowing Championships back in February already gave us one of the highlights of the season when the team took home the first place team points trophy! There were also numerous individual medalists and PR's on the roster.

Spring Break in Austin, TX was memorable as always where we were blessed with good weather, great water and a wonderful week for the team to practice and bond. Thanks to Austin Rowing Club and Holiday Inn on Town Lake for hosting us.

Novice women at practice at Spring Break

Unfortunately, upon our return to Nebraska, we were met with snow and freezing temperatures. Our water time was limited out at Branched Oak and we were all begging for that Texas sun again! Our first regatta, our own Corn Row was upon us, but due to some unforeseen circumstances the team decided to cancel the race.

However, we still moved on with our annual Alumni Banquet that evening. We had over 100 attendees! We also put up some Nebraska Crew related items in a silent auction including some vintage oars, a quilt and dinner plates. Our team members were able to meet some of our alumni as well as speak to them about our progress so far. Thank you to all who came out and we hope you had a good time and look forward to seeing you next year!

Our first regatta of the season was the Upper Midwest Collegiate Sprints hosted by Creighton University in Omaha, NE. It was great to finally compete after the long winter. The novice women and novice men's 8's took home third place in their respective races. The women's team returned to Carter Lake in Omaha a couple weeks later to race Creighton again in a dual.

Novice men's 8+ at Upper Midwest Collegiate Sprints

Unfortunately, bad news met us once again when we found out the Lake Shawnee Spring Classic in Topeka, KS was cancelled due to low water levels. It was a sad and sudden end to the season but we're still proud of all that we've accomplished. At our last day at Branched Oak, we still recognized our Oarsman of the Year, Sarah Rothchild, and our Spirit Award winner, Daniel Farrar.

Team picture at the last day at Branched Oak.

This semester, we've had the opportunity to do more fundraisers and recruit one of our largest novice classes in recent years. We've acquired new ergs for the boathouse and all of our oar blades have been repainted red with a white power N logo. We are also in the process of fully repairing our tank through UNL Campus Recreation for use in the fall.

One of our newly painted oar blades.

We're excited to see what we can accomplish next season on and off the water. We hope you'll join us on this journey by staying connected through this blog, Facebook page and Twitter.

Our officers team for Fall 2013: