NCAA Rowing Championships Blog: Finale
6/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
Michigan's first varsity eight earned an at-large bid to the 2008 NCAA Championships, which were held May 30-June 1 in Sacramento, Calif. The Wolverines ended up finishing fifth in the petite final for the first varsity eight, which was good for an 11th-place finish overall.
Junior Julia Nelson, who is an English and French major, reported back from Sacramento throughout the team's trip. In her final entry, Nelson reflects on the experience that she and her team gained from the NCAA Championships and looks forward to a promising 2008-09 season.
THURSDAY | JUNE 5, 2008
Eleventh out of 16 isn't bad! After a long, hard season of building toward NCAAs we have put ourselves in a great position to come back next season. We may have been beaten by 10 crews, but none of them beat us by more than 10 seconds, and none of them has their full lineup returning next year.
Okay, that may be a lie, I don't know if any of them do, but I know that we have 11 returning seniors, our incoming freshmen are going to be coming from competing at Junior Worlds for the U.S., and we have eight returning athletes (plus our coxswain) from the first varsity eight.
We have potential, big potential. Last year we won one regular-season race, did not qualify for nationals and got second in the petite final at regionals. This year we medaled at the Head of the Charles, one of the biggest races in the world, won several regular-season races, medaled at regionals and got an at-large eight boat bid to nationals. We have redefined our program. Our potential is busting at the seams, and we're hungry for some more speed.
We bid farewell to four great seniors: Annie Hildebrand, who will remain at Michigan to pursue a masters degree in Sport Management; Caitlin McCallister, who will travel to Boston to pursue postgraduate studies in research; Marin McCabe will gladly meet the sunshine in Florida where she'll pursue a masters in public policy; and Rebecca Shapiro will be riding her road bike across the country this summer leading a group for Habitat for Humanity's "Bike and Build." Aren't they all so very impressive!
I say so long with mixed feelings because we'll miss them all dearly. Their personalities and talent have added so much to our team, but their contributions and endeavors to come are inspirations in themselves.
Now, it's summer time and the weather is fine, and I'm happy to say I'm going to enjoy three months free of morning practice! Congratulations to everyone who competed at NCAAs; that was a stellar regatta!
Players Mentioned
