Michigan
Big Ten Heats
Wolverines Reclaim Conference Crown in Exciting Finish
5/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
Event: #7 Michigan at Big Ten Championships
U-M Team Finish: 1st Place of 7 Teams (123 Points)
U-M Boat Results: First Varsity Eight -- 1st place; Second Varsity Eight -- 3rd place;
First Varsity Four -- 1st place; Second Varsity Four -- 5th place;
First Novice Eight -- 6th place; Second Novice Eight -- 6th place
Next U-M Event: Saturday, May. 17 -- at Central Region Championships (Oak Ridge, Tenn.)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The seventh-ranked University of Michigan rowing team won the Big Ten Conference championship for the third time in four years (2000, 2001 and 2003) on Saturday (May 3) at Griggs Reservoir on the Scioto River. The Wolverines' championship was highlighted by the first varsity eight's narrow victory over No. 11 Ohio State in the Grande Final. OSU's finish made the crucial difference in the overall point totals because No. 10 Michigan State's third-place finish in the first varsity eight race allowed Michigan to gain 18 points on MSU. Since Michigan and Michigan State were tied at the end of the day with 123 total team points, the first varsity eight finish was the tiebreaking competition.
Heading into the first varsity eight Grande Final, Michigan State held an 18-point lead over then third-place U-M. However, the Wolverines and Iowa still had a chance to come away with the Big Ten title with a victory and a third-place finish by MSU in the first varsity eight race. Michigan and Ohio State broke slightly away partially through the race with Michigan State and Iowa trailing. The Maize and Blue edged ahead of the Buckeyes in the final 1,000 meters and won the race by half of a boat length with a 6:27.8 finish. With a time of 6:30.4, Ohio State helped out the Wolverines by holding off the Spartans (6:31.1) by just a few seats. Iowa turned in a fourth-place finish.
For their efforts, five Michigan rowers were named to the All-Big Ten team. Erin Kopicki (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child HS), Kate Maxim (St. Helena, S.C./Langley HS) and Helen Dalis (Augusta, Ga./Davidson Fine Arts) were selected as All-Big Ten first team members. Heather Mandoli (Kelowna, B.C./KLO Secondary School) and Katie Reynolds (Saint John, New Brunswick/Saint John SS) were a part of the All-Big Ten second team.
Michigan finished in third place in the second varsity eight race behind the Spartans and Hawkeyes. Michigan State pulled away early with Iowa chasing and Michigan and Ohio State battling for third place. The third-place finish gave Michigan an opportunity to still win the Big Ten title in the first varsity eight Grande Final.
Michigan's first four pulled out the first finals victory of the day to gain 21 points for the Maize and Blue with a six-seat win over Iowa. The Wolverines were in fourth at the beginning of the race but worked their way past MSU and OSU during the middle 1,000 meters to make it a two-boat race with Iowa in the end.
The Wolverines struggled in the first three races of the afternoon, accumulating only nine points, compared to the leader, Wisconsin, with 27. The second varsity four finished in last place out of the five teams to earn three points. U-M's first novice eight picked up four points with a sixth-place finish. The second novice eight added two points for the squad with another sixth-place finish.
In the morning heats, Michigan's top three varsity boats advanced to the Grande Finals as the first varsity eight and the first varsity four grabbed first-place finishes while the second varsity eight earned second. The novice boats were relegated to the Petite Finals and the second varsity four placed fifth out five boats in its heat.
Michigan will have the next weekend off before it attempts to ensure an NCAA Rowing Championships bid for itself when it competes at the Central Region Championships on May 17-18 in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Final Team Standings
1. MICHIGAN 123* 2. Michigan State 123 3. Ohio State 107 4. Iowa 99 5. Wisconsin 69 6. Minnesota 61 7. Indiana 30 * Won team title based on higher IV8 finish
RESULTS
Morning Heats
| Afternoon Finals
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All-Conference Teams
| FIRST TEAM Rebecca England, Indiana Jessica Goetz, Iowa Helen Dalis, Michigan Erin Kopicki, Michigan Kate Maxim, Michigan Rachel Miller, Michigan State Melissa Roche, Minnesota Karla Fiserova, Ohio State Maxi Meissner, Ohio State Erin Gladding, Wisconsin | SECOND TEAM Kelly Schuiling, Indiana Michelle Trannel, Iowa Heather Mandoli, Michigan Katie Reynolds, Michigan Kate Gay, Michigan State Stacey Hicks, Michigan State Heidi Rose, Minnesota Heather Feldmann, Ohio State Natalie Legge, Ohio State Marianna Waters, Wisconsin |
Michigan Lineups
First Varsity Eight -- Helen Dalis (coxswain), Erin Kopicki, Crystal Culp, Stesha Carle, Heather Mandoli, Leah Ketcheson, Brett Sickler, Kate Maxim, Katie Reynolds.
Second Varsity Eight -- Tara Medina (coxswain), Sarah Trowbridge, Emily Goodwin, Elizabeth Godek, Heather DeHainaut, Laura Drongowski, Christin Plunkett, Emoke Bury, Christina Ceo.
First Varsity Four -- Louisa DiLeone (coxswain), Stephanie Shapiro, Elizabeth Kreger, Janine Hanson, Amy Coughlin.
Second Varsity Four -- Sarah O'Brien (coxswain), Pam Woll, Margot Woolley, Hillary Van Duyne, Julia Boyles.
N O T E S
Michigan has won three of the four Big Ten Championships since the Big Ten started sponsoring rowing in 2000. U-M has titles in 2000, 2001 and 2003.
Heather Mandoli earned All-Big Ten second team honors for the second consecutive year.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Mark Rothstein
On the Big Ten Championships ... "I'm very excited. I think that the event gets better every year. The racing gets closer and obviously you look at the results with the tie and us winning the tiebreaker, the parity is here in the Big Ten. We are really excited to have won this."
On the first varsity eight Grande Final ... "That's not the way that we wanted that to be, but we got lucky and it worked out. I thought all of our crews raced well, particularly our varsity eight and varsity four, which were the crews that won today. They really rowed well today. The second varsity eight did well too. I was pleased with how we did, and we ended up coming out on top and that's a nice thing to have happen."
On the team's postseason progression ... "We have to get faster. There is no question that the Central Regionals are going to be fast. We have crews from the Big Ten that are going to be there, as well as Tennessee and Virginia. It will be very competitive. If we don't get faster we are going to be in trouble."
Senior Erin Kopicki
On winning the Big Ten title as a member of the first varsity eight ... "It was a great race. It's really exciting to be able to contribute that much to the team. It's a great feeling."
Senior Kate Maxim
On winning the Big Ten championship for the third time in her career ... "It is so much sweeter. The competition is so much different these days. It just feels awesome to go out there. It was really close today and we had a lot of respect for those other crews and to come out on top is an honor."
Senior Helen Dalis
On needing to win the first varsity eight race and having MSU finish in third ... "We had no idea going into the race. We just knew that we had to win. We had to do our part to contribute to the team."
On motivating the team ... "It was pretty easy. Everybody was self-motivated. As a boat we were just one unity that was driven to go win. We knew what we wanted and we went after it."
Contact: Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
