Terre Haute is host to the women’s rowing team from the University of Texas as they prepare for the NCAA Championship in Indianapolis.
The team was set to row on the Wabash River this morning, but nature had other plans.
“It’s running a little bit too fast for it to be safe,” said the team’s head coach David O’Neill, “And we don’t want to chance anything.”
The women are too focused, and too close to their goal to skip practice of any kind.
So they’ve taken to erg rowing machines.
Co-captain Ashley Jacobs walked across the stage at graduation this spring, and now she’s ready to bring her team to first place at the NCAA’s.
“We’ve had a lot, a lot of ups. There have been some downs, some hard times,” said Jacobs. “But to come together as a boat and to win a championship would just be, I mean you couldn’t think of a more picturesque way to end your career in something.”
Fellow co-captain Milica Slijepcevic, originally from Serbia, chose the University of Texas specifically for their rowing team.
“I started to study at home and it didn’t work because you cannot be student athlete in Serbia,” said Slijepcevic. “There is like no opportunity.”
The captains have worked all year with their team, and they believe they’ve got what it takes to go all the way.
“It would be. I’m speechless about it if we were to do it,” said Jacobs. “You know, big dreams, big things ahead.”
“This is the first year I like feel really confident that we can win,” said Slijepcevic.
The NCAA Championship will take place next weekend in Indianapolis at the Indianapolis Rowing Center at Eagle Creek Park.
