Michigan
NCAA Finals
Michigan Places Eighth at NCAA Rowing Championships
6/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
Site: Indianapolis, Ind. (Eagle Creek Reservoir)
Event: #5 Michigan at NCAA Championships
U-M Team Finish: 8th Place of 12 Teams (40 Points)
U-M Boat Results: First Varsity Eight (9th), Second Varsity Eight (5th), First Varsity Four (4th)
Next U-M Event: Season completed
INDIANAPOLIS -- The University of Michigan women's rowing team wrapped up the final day of competition at the NCAA Championships with an eighth-place team finish today (Sunday, June 2) at the Eagle Creek Reservoir. The Wolverines finished ninth in the first varsity eight, fifth in the second varsity eight and fourth in the first varsity four to earn 40 points in the team competition. Princeton also scored 40 points and won the tiebreaker with a higher finish (fifth place) in the first varsity eight competition. Brown (67 points) took home the team title for the third time in the six-year history of the championships.
Michigan's first varsity eight finished third in the Petite Final in a race that was undecided until the final few meters. The Wolverines were in fifth at the 500-meter mark but the top five boats were still connected. The teams traded positions throughout the second 500 meters, and Michigan moved into third with the fastest second 500-meter split of all the boats in the race. Yale remained in first with a three-second lead over Virginia.
The teams held positions through the 1,500-meter mark. Yale continued to lead, but there was about one-half of a boatlength between Virginia, Michigan and fourth-place Southern California. In the sprint, the Wolverines were able to move past a fading Virginia boat but could not catch the others.
The third-place finish was good for ninth overall among the first varsity eight boats and earned the team 15 points in the team total. Washington won the first varsity eight NCAA title with a time of 6:36.41 in the Grande Final.
Michigan's second varsity eight could not repeat its come-from-behind race in yesterday's (June 1) repechage heats and finished fifth in the Grande Final of the event. The boat started with the other five crews in a tight pack and was only two seconds off Washington's pace at the 500-meter mark. The boats stayed connected through the second 500 meters, with Virginia falling back into sixth while U-M remained in fifth.
Brown and Washington traded first and second, while the other four boats battled for third. Over the last 500 meters, the field started to pull apart slightly and the Wolverines crossed the finish line in fifth with a time of 6:54.61. The finish earned the team 16 points in the team standings.
A huge push in the final 300 meters of the first varsity four race took Michigan from sixth place to fourth place in the Grande Final of the event. The boat started the race in second and battled Brown for first through the first 250 meters. Michigan had fallen behind Yale and Brown by two seats. The boat continued to slip and found itself in fifth place with only 500 meters to go, just before it increased its rating and started to move through the field. The move nearly put the boat even closer to the front of the field, but third-place Yale crossed the finish line less than one second ahead of Michigan's fourth-place time of 7:47.61.
Brown won the first varsity four NCAA title with a time of 7:42.24 and earned 12 points, while Michigan earned nine points toward the team championship.
Today's racing concludes the sixth season of varsity rowing for the University of Michigan.
Final Team Standings
1. Brown 67 2. Washington 63 3. California 44 4. Virginia 43 5. Ohio State* 42 6. Yale 42 7. Princeton* 40 8. MICHIGAN 40 9. Michigan State 29 10. Stanford 26 11. Harvard 19 12. Syracuse 13 * won tiebreakers based on first varsity eight finish
Results (Day 3)
First Varsity Eight (Grande Final) 1. Washington 6:36.41 1st 36 pts. 2. Brown 6:39.87 2nd 33 3. California 6:40.96 3rd 30 4. Ohio State 6:41.11 4th 27 5. Princeton 6:44.54 5th 24 6. Stanford 6:52.53 6th 21 First Varsity Eight (Petite Final) 1. Yale 6:39.99 7th 18 pts. 2. Southern Cal 6:43.71 8th -- 3. MICHIGAN 6:44.31 9th 15 4. Virginia 6:44.87 10th 12 5. Syracuse 6:45.73 11th 9 6. Harvard 6:47.46 12th 6 Second Varsity Eight (Grande Final) 1. Washington 6:46.39 1st 24 pts. 2. Brown 6:48.18 2nd 22 3. Virginia 6:49.43 3rd 20 4. Michigan State 6:50.86 4th 18 5. MICHIGAN 6:54.61 5th 16 6. Yale 6:56.78 6th 14 Second Varsity Eight (Petite Final) 1. Princeton 6:54.60 7th 12 pts. 2. Ohio State 6:55.13 8th 10 3. California 6:58.90 9th 8 4. Harvard 6:59.79 10th 6 5. Stanford 7:00.14 11th 4 6. Syracuse 7:03.19 12th 2 Varsity Four (Grande Final) 1. Brown 7:42.24 1st 12 pts. 2. Virginia 7:44.90 2nd 11 3. Yale 7:46.80 3rd 10 4. MICHIGAN 7:47.61 4th 9 5. Michigan State 7:48.57 5th 8 6. Harvard 7:49.43 6th 7 Varsity Four (Petite Final) 1. California 7:48.59 7th 6 pts. 2. Ohio State 7:51.98 8th 5 3. Princeton 7:52.34 9th 4 4. Washington 7:54.47 10th 3 5. Syracuse 7:59.69 11th 2 6. Stanford 7:59.75 12th 1
Michigan Lineups
First Varsity Eight: Helen Dalis (c), Kate Maxim, Tami McBratney, Leah Ketcheson, Christina Meyer, Erin Kopicki, Sophie Roberge, Katie Reynolds, Crystal Culp
Second Varsity Eight: Tara Medina (c), Brett Sickler, Heather Mandoli, Elizabeth Nelson, Elizabeth Kreger, Jenny Bryant, Cristin McCarty, Laura Drongowski, Julie Brescoll
Varsity Four: Corinn Cunningham (c), Angela Bierhuizen, Emily Goodwin, Christina Ceo, Emöke Bury
N O T E S
• This was the first time in six years of the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships that the winner of the first varsity eight (Washington) did not win the team competition (Brown).
• Michigan finished second among the three Big Ten schools at the NCAA Championships. Ohio State was fifth (42 points), and Michigan State was ninth (29 points).
• This year produced the closest team results in the six years of the NCAA Championships with only four points separating third-place California (44 points) and eighth-place Michigan (40 points).
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Mark Rothstein
On today's races ... "I think all of our crews rowed well today. The first varsity eight came back from a disappointing semifinal and did well in the final. That was good to see. The second varsity eight had a great regatta, finishing fifth in a very fast field. The four did an excellent job with the highest finish (fourth) of all our boats. I think we are a little disappointed with the final results, but there were a lot of positive aspects to take from this weekend. There are definitely things to build on for next year."
On the close competition at this year's championships ... "It was clear going into the finals that there was going to be a lot of variation, and we could have finished between third and 11th. If a couple of our boats finish just a little better, we might have finished as high as fourth, but it didn't work out that way. Overall, I am pretty pleased with how we raced here this weekend."
Players Mentioned
