Wolverines Earn Ninth Place at NCAA Championships

Sunday, May 31

Cherry Hill, N.J.

9:45 AM

Michigan

NCAA Finals

5/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Rowing

By: Matt Trevor

Site: Cherry Hill, N.J. (Cooper River)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 3)
U-M Team Finish: 9th Place of 16 Teams (48 Points)
U-M Boat Results: First Varsity Eight -- 2nd place in Petite Final (8th Overall)
Second Varsity Eight -- 4th place in Petite Final (10th Overall)
First Varsity Four -- 4th place in Petite Final (10th Overall)
Next U-M Event: Season Completed

• Photo Gallery

CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- The University of Michigan rowing team posted a ninth-place finish among 16 teams at the NCAA Championships on Sunday (May 31) at Cooper River. U-M's No. 5-ranked first varsity eight was the runner-up in the petite final to place eighth overall. The second varsity eight and varsity four were fourth in their respective petite finals to finish 10th overall in their events. Michigan ended up with 48 points.

Stanford won both the first varsity eight and team NCAA championships. The Cardinal collected 88 total points, while California and Yale each had 85 points; Cal earned the silver medal as a result of its first varsity eight finishing higher than Yale's, but Yale did win the second varsity eight national title. Clemson won the varsity four national title and placed 12th as a team.

The first varsity eight petite final was too close to call as the teams settled in after the opening sprint. At 500 meters, Michigan was in second place to No. 16 Southern California by a seat. No. 7 Michigan State was just two seats back of U-M. No. 13 Washington and No. 14 Ohio State were half a length off the pace of the top three crews. U-M, MSU and USC had open water on the rest of the field at 1,000 meters. The Spartans had a 0.25 second edge on the Wolverines, who were up 0.18 on the Women of Troy. Leading into the 1,500-meter buoy, Michigan and Michigan State separated from USC but were still in a fierce struggle for top billing. At the 1,500-meter mark, the Maize and Blue had the lead on MSU by 0.20. Michigan increased its lead to roughly three seats entering the final 250 meters. Unfortunately, U-M's boat caught a slight crab in the sprint, which was just enough of an opportunity for MSU. Michigan recovered rapidly but lost out on the victory by a bow ball -- 6:19.05 to 6:19.09. The race for third place was even closer as USC beat Ohio State by 0.02. Washington and No. 12 Clemson were fifth and sixth, respectively.

The Wolverine second varsity eight waited in back of the pack through the first 1,000 meters of its petite final. During that time, Michigan State dominated the race, maintaining open water on second-place USC and third-place Ohio State. Princeton was a length in front of U-M, while Clemson had just a few seats on the Maize and Blue. Michigan saved its push for the second half of the race, cruising past Clemson and then Princeton in the final 500 meters to capture fourth place in 6:49.18. MSU (6:37.83) won the race by open water, followed by Ohio State (6:42.85) and then USC (6:46.19).

Michigan's varsity four began its petite final in fifth place through the opening 250 meters. Brown and Ohio State had the early lead, with Washington and Southern California closely following. At 500 meters, OSU had a seat lead on USC, followed by Brown and then Washington. Michigan was fifth, over a length behind UW. U-M had the fastest split between 500 and 1,000 meters to zoom past Washington and then USC to assume third place and stand just three quarters of a length off the leading OSU and Brown boats. The top four boats were in contact with each other heading into the final 500 meters. The Buckeyes (7:27.14) held off Brown (7:28.10) for first place, while the race for third was between the Wolverines and Huskies. Washington caught U-M in the last few strokes to take third in 7:30.68, a mere 32-hundredths of a second ahead of the Wolverines. USC and Harvard were fifth and sixth, respectively.

This ends the 13th varsity season of Michigan women's rowing; all under the direction of head coach Mark Rothstein.

Final Team Standings

 1. Stanford              88 points
 2. California*           85
 3. Yale                  85
 4. Virginia              78
 5. Brown                 71
 6. Michigan State        54
 7. Washington            50
 8. Ohio State            49
 9. MICHIGAN              48
10. Princeton*            46
11. Southern California   46
12. Clemson               43
13. Wisconsin             26
14. Harvard               21
15. Oregon State          14
16. Dartmouth             12

* won tiebreaker based on first varsity eight finish

Results (Day 3, Finals)

First Varsity Eight 
Grand Final
1. Stanford              6:11.95 -- 48 points
2. Virginia              6:12.32 -- 45
3. California            6:14.76 -- 42
4. Yale                  6:17.22 -- 39
5. Brown                 6:18.13 -- 36
6. Princeton             6:24.02 -- 33
Petite Final
1. Michigan State        6:19.05 -- 30
2. MICHIGAN              6:19.09 -- 27
3. Southern California   6:23.37 -- 24
4. Ohio State            6:23.39 -- 21
5. Washington            6:25.99 -- 18
6. Clemson               6:32.25 -- 15
Third-Level Final
1. Harvard               6:24.90 -- 12
2. Dartmouth             6:27.16 -- 9
3. Oregon State          6:28.27 -- 6
4. Wisconsin             6:31.90 -- 3

Second Varsity Eight 
Grand Final
1. Yale                  6:29.04 -- 32 points
2. California            6:29.58 -- 30
3. Stanford              6:31.88 -- 28
4. Brown                 6:32.93 -- 26
5. Washington            6:34.28 -- 24
6. Virginia              6:37.17 -- 22
Petite Final
1. Michigan State        6:37.83 -- 20
2. Ohio State            6:42.85 -- 18
3. Southern California   6:46.19 -- 16
4. MICHIGAN              6:49.18 -- 14
5. Clemson               6:51.60 -- 12
6. Princeton             6:52.97 -- 10
Third-Level Final
1. Wisconsin             6:44.96 -- 8
2. Oregon State          6:48.79 -- 6
3. Harvard               6:51.00 -- 4
4. Dartmouth             6:57.69 -- 2

First Varsity Four 
Grand Final
1. Clemson               7:26.78 -- 16 points
2. Wisconsin             7:28.54 -- 15
3. Yale                  7:30.81 -- 14
4. California            7:32.01 -- 13
5. Stanford              7:32.29 -- 12
6. Virginia              7:34.26 -- 11
Petite Final
1. Ohio State            7:27.14 -- 10
2. Brown                 7:28.10 -- 9
3. Washington            7:30.68 -- 8
4. MICHIGAN              7:31.00 -- 7
5. Southern California   7:34.71 -- 6
6. Harvard               7:44.49 -- 5
Third-Level Final
1. Michigan State        7:29.71 -- 4
2. Princeton             7:33.08 -- 3
3. Oregon State          7:34.04 -- 2
4. Dartmouth             7:47.15 -- 1

Quotes

Michigan Head Coach Mark Rothstein
On today's races and the end of the season ... "I thought that we raced well today. I thought our four had a good race, which obviously came down to a photo finish for third and we were on the wrong side of that. It was a great race for that crew. It's a young crew. I look forward to working with that crew for years to come -- two freshmen, a couple juniors and a sophomore coxswain. I was pleased with that group at their first NCAA Championships.

"Our second varsity eight had a great sprint and was able to come from behind and get fourth. We're pleased with that. I thought our first varsity eight raced how we wanted to race. We finally put together the race that we were capable of and I was really pleased with how we raced. We did exactly what we wanted to do and obviously had the unfortunate crab at the end, which cost us first, but still to finish second in that event is a great finish. It was probably our best race of the year other than the mishap at the end. I felt really good about that.

"Overall, I was pleased. It's sort of a mixture of being happy how we raced but disappointment with where we finished."

Michigan Lineups

First Varsity Eight -- Laura Dunn (coxswain), Melisa Ongun, Ashley Kroll, Adrienne Mecham, Karen Colwell, Felice Mueller, Emily Eiffert, Cristina Felix, Caitlin Trumble.