Torrential rain bogged down and eventually canceled the Gophers women’s rowing team’s second meet of the fall season Sunday in Rockford, Ill.

“[It was] supremely windy, a little bit of white-capping when our [rowing] pairs were coming down,” Gophers coach Wendy Davis said. 

The weather prevented Minnesota’s top boat from competing in the Head of the Rock meet, as the competition was first postponed and then canceled Sunday afternoon. But what Davis did see from her squad, she didn’t necessarily like.

“I’ve never seen [our fours] row that bad,” Davis said of the team’s second-tier boat.

Davis said the competition was a wash because the conditions “were going up and down.” She likened conditions to those at a golf tournament, saying whoever got the better conditions during their tee time was likely to do better.

Minnesota’s pairs raced for the first time this fall season, winning one event and placing fifth in another. Davis said that’s when the river began white-capping and the weather turned worse. By the time her second-tier boats were on the water, she said there was “torrential rain.”

Davis said Wisconsin withdrew from the competition before it was canceled.

“I was debating on leaving, too,” Davis said.

The Head of the Mississippi  meet that Davis likened to an “intra-squad” scrimmage last weekend has been the only competition her team’s top boat has been a part of this fall.

While she said her team was “relieved” to not race in Sunday’s conditions, Davis will have to wait two weeks until the Head of the Iowa meet in Iowa City, Iowa, on Oct. 28.