Michigan
NCAA Heats
U-M Takes Third in Repechage, Advances to NCAA Semifinals
5/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
Site: Sacramento, Calif. (Lake Natoma)
Event: #10 Michigan at NCAA Championships (Day 1)
U-M First Varsity Eight Finish: 4th Place of 5 Teams (6:32.60) in Preliminary Heat;
3rd Place of 7 Teams (6:42.01) in Repechage
Next U-M Event: Saturday, May 31 -- at NCAA Championships Semifinals (Sacramento, Calif.), 8:15 a.m. PDT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The University of Michigan rowing team's No. 10-ranked first varsity eight pulled out a third-place finish in this afternoon's (Friday, May 30) repechage at the NCAA Championships to garner the 12th and final bid into Saturday morning's (May 31) semifinals.
Michigan will race in the second semifinal at 8:15 a.m. PDT tomorrow against Brown, Michigan State, Southern Cal, Virginia and Washington. The top three finishers from each of the two semifinals advance to the grand final on Sunday (June 1). The bottom three teams from the semifinals move on to the petite final.
In the repechage, just 2.45 seconds separated the winning crew (Southern California) from the fourth-place boat (Wisconsin), which was relegated to the places 13-16 final on Sunday. Michigan was just 1.24 seconds behind USC and 0.33 off second-place Washington State. U-M edged out the Badgers for third by 1.21 seconds.
The opening 500 meters were hotly contested as the four leaders (USC, U-M, WSU, UW) were less than a second apart (0.88). U-M was five seats back of the Women of Troy at 1,000 meters and two and three seats ahead of the Cougars and Badgers, respectively. Washington State took over second place from U-M with 500 meters to go, but the Wolverines still maintained third place by six seats over the Badgers.
USC hit the finish line first in 6:40.77, followed by Washington State in 6:41.68. Michigan held off Wisconsin's charge to get third in 6:42.01. Wisconsin, Clemson, Ohio State and Tennessee placed fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, and will race for places 13-16 on Sunday (June 1).
The Wolverines ended up in the repechage after taking fourth place in their five-team heat Friday morning, missing out on a top-three finish that would have advanced them directly to the semifinals.
Through the opening 1,000 meters, No. 17 Washington held a slight two-seat lead over No. 11 Brown and a four-seat advantage on No. 6 Stanford. The Wolverines were close to a full length behind the leading Huskies, battling for fourth with No. 16 Clemson. Brown took over the narrow lead from UW in the third 500, while Stanford was less than a seat out of second place. Michigan was solidly in fourth, holding open water over Clemson, but was still close to a full boat behind the top three crews.
Faced with an insurmountable deficit going into the final leg of the race, the Wolverines elected not to sprint in order to conserve energy for the afternoon repechage. Brown won the heat in 6:23.12, followed by Stanford (6:25.68) and Washington (6:26.88) -- all three boats advance to the semifinals. U-M was 8.81 seconds off of Brown's pace and 5.05 seconds behind third-place UW. Clemson was fifth in 6:41.59.
Complete results can be found on the NCAA Championships website, www.natoma08.com.
RESULTS
First Varsity Eight - Heat 1 1. Yale 6:25.60 - advance to semifinals 2. Michigan State 6:27.25 - advance to semifinals 3. Harvard 6:27.56 - advance to semifinals 4. Wisconsin 6:29.87 - advance to repechage 5. Southern Cal 6:33.40 - advance to repechage 6. Ohio State 6:36.01 - advance to repechage First Varsity Eight - Heat 2 1. Brown 6:24.21 - advance to semifinals 2. Stanford 6:25.63 - advance to semifinals 3. Washington 6:27.55 - advance to semifinals 4. MICHIGAN 6:32.60 - advance to repechage 5. Clemson 6:42.05 - advance to repechage First Varsity Eight - Heat 3 1. California 6:23.79 - advance to semifinals 2. Virginia 6:24.95 - advance to semifinals 3. Princeton 6:28.28 - advance to semifinals 4. Washington State 6:28.98 - advance to repechage 5. Tennessee 6:30.69 - advance to repechage First Varsity Eight - Repechage 1. Southern Cal 6:40.77 - advance to semifinals 2. Washington State 6:41.68 - advance to semifinals 3. MICHIGAN 6:42.01 - advance to semifinals 4. Wisconsin 6:43.22 - advance to 13-16 final 5. Clemson 6:47.28 - advance to 13-16 final 6. Ohio State 6:48.22 - advance to 13-16 final 7. Tennessee 6:50.92 - advance to 13-16 final
L I N E U P
First Varsity Eight: Laura Dunn (coxswain), Adrienne Mecham, Lori Gordon, Sarah Gribler, Grace Luczak, Ashley Kroll, Karen Colwell, Cate Trumble, Julia Nelson.
Contact: Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
