Michigan
Big Ten Heats
Michigan Captures Second Straight Big Ten Rowing Title
4/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
Site: Belleville, Mich. (Belleville Lake)
Event: Big Ten Championships
U-M Team Finish: 1st Place of 7 Teams (56 points)
Next U-M Event: Sat-Sun., May 12-13 -- at Central Region Championships (Oak Ridge, Tenn.)
BELLEVILLE, Mich. -- After two years as a Big Ten-sponsored sport, there is still just one team that can claim the title of Big Ten women's rowing champion: the University of Michigan. The second-ranked Wolverines defended their title by winning their second consecutive conference crown today (Saturday, April 28) at the Big Ten Women's Rowing Championships on Belleville Lake. The rowers added to the program's best season to date by capturing four events and scoring 56 points to outlast second-place Ohio State, which finished with 43 points.
By winning both their morning heats and afternoon Grande Finals, the three NCAA-scoring boats (first varsity eight, second varsity eight and first varsity four) each continued their season-long undefeated streaks. The first novice eight also captured an event title by winning the Grande Final after finishing second in the morning heat. In the other two races, which were won by Wisconsin, Michigan's second varsity four was second while the second novice eight finished third.
For their efforts, five Wolverines were named the All-Big Ten teams, led by senior Laurel Donnell-Fink (Lansing, Mich./Okemos HS). After being named to the second team last season, Donnell-Fink earned a spot on the All-Big Ten first team this year. Joining her were Bernadette Marten (Fortville, Ind./Cathedral HS) and two-time National Scholar Athlete Alison Hickey (Scituate, Mass./Noble and Greenough). Named to the All-Big Ten second team were juniors Jennifer Bryant (Wainfleet, Ontario/Lakeshore Catholic) and Tamara McBratney (Brockville, Ontario/Brockville Collegiate).
In the morning heats, each time the Wolverines posted was among the top two for the event. The effort gave each Michigan boat a spot in the Grande Final of its event and an opportunity to score points toward the team title, which is exactly what happened.
While the second novice eight couldn't overcome a strong Wisconsin effort, it still finished third to earn the first point of the championships for Michigan. In the First Novice Eight race, Michigan took second in the morning heat but came from behind to battle Minnesota for the title. In a race that was tightly contested in the final meters, the Wolverines pulled ahead for a three-seat victory, five team points and Michigan's first novice title in the two years of the championships.
In similar fashion, the second varsity four battled the entire way with Wisconsin before falling to the Badgers by just over eight-tenths of a second. However, the effort earned Michigan a pair of team points and put them into a tie for the lead with Wisconsin.
With the points increasing as the afternoon moved along, Michigan looked to take a firm hold on the top spot, especially since none of Wisconsin's boats were in the Grande Finals of the last three events. The first varsity four helped the team's cause by taking the top spot, earning seven points and giving the Wolverines the lead for good. After dominating the morning heat, the second varsity eight repeated its performance in the Grande Final. The crew jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, winning the race by over seven seconds. The 14 points earned was enough to clinch the title for the Wolverines with the First Varsity Eight race still to come.
Despite having the team championship wrapped up, the first varsity eight was looking to put together a strong race in an effort to keep the team in a position to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships in late May. The race started closely and stayed that way through the first 500 meters. Over the second 500 meters, Ohio State pulled out to a six-seat lead on the Wolverines. The lead was maintained until Michigan put on an impressive move to take over the race at the 1,250-meter mark. At that point, Michigan began to walk through the Buckeyes and took back three seats in about 100 meters. Over the next 400 meters, Michigan kept moving through Ohio State until the Wolverines got out to a solid lead. The crew held off the Buckeyes in the sprint to finish the race in first by three seconds in one of the best contests of the meet.
With the championship in hand, the Wolverines will take a weekend off to prepare for the Central Region Championships May 12-13 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Michigan is looking to win its third consecutive region championship and earn its fourth consecutive bid to the NCAA Championships May 26-28 in Gainesville, Ga.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Mark Rothstein
On winning the championship ... "We've had to overcome some adversity (with a late injury and lineup change), and I am extremely proud of the way they responded. We've got so much depth and so many kids who have worked hard that I feel comfortable with anybody we put in the boats. From the first boat through the second four, we can boat lineups that are fast regardless of injury. I really think it helps make this championship a confidence-builder."
On the First Varsity Eight race ... "I think Ohio State really came after us. They rowed a great race, and we rowed a great race. It was just a great boat race for the athletes and the fans. It's exciting to see that at a Big Ten Championship. That's what you'd expect."
On hosting the championships ... "Ragine Dvorak, Mike Caviston, Matt LeBlanc and all the others involved just did an outstanding job putting on this event today. The comments I received and my own opinion, this is one of the best rowing events I've been to. They are to be congratulated because they did the lion's share of the work."
On preparing for the Central Region Championships ... "Well, what we have to look at is how we're going to settle our lineups. We need to enjoy this victory but come back on Monday ready to work. I do know this, we are going to get faster over the next two weeks."
Players Mentioned
