Michigan Takes Fourth Place at Central/South Regional

Sunday, May 14

Oak Ridge, Tenn.

9:00 AM

Michigan

Central/South Region Finals

Michigan Takes Fourth Place at Central/South Regional

5/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Rowing

Site: Oak Ridge, Tenn. (Melton Hill Lake)
Event: #6 Michigan at Central/South Region Championships
U-M Team Finish: 4th Place of 11 Teams (317 Points) in Central Region (4th Overall)
Next U-M Event: TBA

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan women's rowing team garnered a fourth-place regional and overall finish at the Central/South Region Sprints on Sunday (May 14) on Melton Hill Lake. No. 4 Ohio State sewed up both the overall and Central Region titles with 366 total points. Tennessee won the South Region crown with 294 points, good for sixth overall. The Wolverines (317) were fourth behind the first-place Buckeyes, Wisconsin (361) and Notre Dame (336).

Michigan will learn if it has qualified for the 2006 NCAA Championships, which run May 26-28 in West Windsor, N.J., when the NCAA announces the official bids on Tuesday (May 16).

The Wolverines first varsity eight earned a sixth-place finish in a time of 6:31.85, 5.85 seconds off the pace of first-place Notre Dame. All six boats were even after the first few strokes of the race and Michigan ended up with a slight lead at 250 meters. At 500 meters U-M was still just ahead of second-place Wisconsin with Tennessee and Ohio State right behind. By 1,000 meters it seemed to be a four-way race for first with U-M, OSU, UW and Tennessee all in the running. Minnesota and Notre Dame were only a few seats down. Near the 1,250-meter mark the Lady Volunteers moved out three seats up on the Buckeyes while Michigan and the Badgers fought for third. The Fighting Irish surged to the front in the final leg of the race to win in 6:26.00, beating out second-place Ohio State by 0.86 seconds. U-M's final sprint was interrupted with 150 meters to go when the boat briefly caught a crab. As a result, Tennesssee placed a full length ahead in third, followed by UW in fourth and Minnesota in fifth.

U-M's second varsity eight took fourth place in its 'A' final, turning in a time of 6:39.04. Ohio State held the lead off the starting line with the Wolverines just behind in second. Through 250 meters though, Michigan was in sixth place by a couple seats. OSU held the lead still at 500 meters with Wisconsin and Michigan State close behind. Michigan was four seats in back of Notre Dame, which was fifth. At the halfway mark the top three held at least full-length leads on U-M, but Michigan had moved to just one seat in back of the Irish and four down of UVA. In the last 750 meters the Wolverines continued to walk through both Notre Dame and the Cavaliers to lock up fourth place, nearly three-quarters of a length ahead of fifth-place Notre Dame.

Michigan's first varsity four placed sixth in its 'A' final in a time of 7:39.99. Virginia and Wisconsin jumped out to the front early on as Michigan was in third. After the first quarter the Maize and Blue had fallen back of Ohio State, Michigan State and Minnesota into sixth. Through 1,000 meters the Cavaliers already held an open-water lead on the rest of the field. Ohio State and Wisconsin were second and third, respectively. U-M was down close to a full length to both Minnesota and Michigan State. Michigan continued to fall back of the rest of the field and crossed the finish line 17.99 seconds behind the winning UVA crew and 5.64 seconds behind fifth-place Minnesota.

The second varsity four took second place in its 'B' final with a time of 7:54.49. Miami won the race in 7:52.60. The Wolverines had a strong showing, battling back from fourth place to overtake Cincinnati and Louisville at the finish.

The Maize and Blue novice eight earned second place in its 'A' final with a finishing time of 6:52.44. The Wolverines were trailing early on in the race but moved up through the field to take first place from Wisconsin with 750 meters left in the race. The Badgers responded to U-M's attack, however, and won the sprint with a time of 6:50.60.

Complete results for the Central/South Region Championships are available at Tennessee's site.

Final Team Standings

 1. Ohio State* 366 2. Wisconsin 361 3. Notre Dame 336 4. MICHIGAN 317 5. Michigan State 312 6. Tennessee# 294 7. Virginia 284 8. Minnesota 279 9. Louisville 227 10. Central Florida 193 * Ohio State wins South Region and overall titles # Tennessee wins Central Region title

RESULTS

First Varsity Eight (A Final) 1. Notre Dame 6:26.00 - 189 points 2. Ohio State 6:26.82 - 180 3. Tennessee 6:27.34 - 171 4. Wisconsin 6:28.79 - 162 5. Minnesota 6:29.07 - 153 6. MICHIGAN 6:31.85 - 144 Second Varsity Eight (A Final) 1. Ohio State 6:34.20 - 120 2. Wisconsin 6:36.17 - 114 3. Michigan State 6:37.85 - 108 4. MICHIGAN 6:39.04 - 102 5. Notre Dame 6:42.21 - 96 6. Virginia 6:44.35 - 92 First Varsity Four (A Final) 1. Virginia 7:22.00 - 54 2. Ohio State 7:26.95 - 51 3. Wisconsin 7:29.60 - 48 4. Michigan State 7:31.18 - 45 5. Minnesota 7:34.35 - 42 6. MICHIGAN 7:39.99 - 39 First Novice Eight (A Final) 1. Wisconsin 6:50.60 - 28 2. MICHIGAN 6:52.44 - 26 3. Michigan State 6:55.28 - 24 4. Virginia 6:58.84 - 22 5. Clemson 7:01.18 - 20 6. Indiana 7:02.49 - 18 Open Four (B Final) 1. Miami 7:52.60 - 7 2. MICHIGAN 7:54.49 - 6 3. Louisville 7:56.64 - 5 4. Texas 8:00.07 - 4 5. Cincinnati 8:10.61 - 3 6. Duke 8:19.71 - 2

Day 1 Results

Michigan Lineups

First Varsity Eight -- Julia Dalzell (coxswain), Cristin McCarty, Ellen Tomek, Stesha Carl, Janine Hanson, Kari Stenbakken, Cate Trumble, Ashley Jones, Emily Shea.