Michigan Heads to Indianapolis for B1G Rowing Championships
5/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
May 12, 2016
• Notes Pack 
| Schedule of Events
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Saturday, May 14 -- at Big Ten Championships - Heats (Indianapolis, Ind.), 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 15 -- at Big Ten Championships - Finals (Indianapolis, Ind.), 9 a.m.
*Airs Saturday, May 21, at 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The 10th-ranked University of Michigan rowing team heads to Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis this weekend for the Big Ten Rowing Championships. After two weeks of intense training on the water, the Wolverines are set for races, which will take place over the course of two days (May 14-15), beginning with heats on Saturday.
"I think the Big Ten is very strong this year, so it will be a good challenge for us," said head coach Mark Rothstein.
U-M has placed in the top two at the Big Ten Championships in 12 of 16 years that the conference rowing meet has been held, including a second-place finish at the 2015 Big Ten Rowing Championships. Michigan has claimed five Big Ten team titles (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2012).
The Wolverines have raced against three of eight Big Ten opponents this spring, including a Big Ten Double Dual against Ohio State and Rutgers on April 9 in Princeton, New Jersey, and three sessions of racing against Michigan State on April 2 and most recently on April 30 at Belleville Lake. Michigan's 2V8 crew had the best record (5-0), winning head-to-head races against Ohio State and Rutgers and finishing ahead of MSU in all races.
"We're taking advantage of getting a lot of strokes," Rothstein said of training twice a day over the past two weeks. "We're able train hard because of how hard they've trained all year. You can't go crazy with volume and intensity if you haven't prepared for it. This team has prepared to train hard."
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Good luck this weekend! #GoBlue Win @bigten Championship! @umichrowing pic.twitter.com/MyZi2G13Qv
-- Bruce Madej (@BrMadej) May 12, 2016
PROBABLE LINEUPS
To Be Announced
QUICK HITS
• Michigan's 1V8 has five race wins on the spring season, finishing ahead of nationally ranked crews from Notre Dame, Louisville, Radcliffe, Syracuse and Washington State in races this season. The 1V8 had its fastest time of the year on April 30 vs. Louisville and Michigan State, finishing in 6:13.98 to move into 10th in the cMax Rankings, 6.9 seconds behind top crew Ohio State.
• Michigan was ranked No. 10 in the nation in the latest CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll released on May 11. U-M is one of four Big Ten schools ranked in the poll, joining Ohio State (No. 3), Wisconsin (No. 11), and Indiana (No. 14).
• Junior Louisa Freeman, an All-Big Ten second team selection, and sophomore Kendall Brewer, a U23 USRowing National Team selection (quadruple sculls) for the U23 World Rowing Championships this past summer, are among Michigan's returning standouts. Juniors Sarah Hudnall, Kaitlin Wright and Tessa Yurko along with sophomore Felicity Cain all were members of Michigan's 1V8 at NCAA's as well and will continue to have large roles in 2016.
• On March 15, Michigan's 1V4 crew was named Big Ten Boat of the Week. The 1V4 recorded three race wins at the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational (March 12-13) on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Michigan's 1V4 crew -- Nadia Roohparvar (coxswain), Kalia Krichko, Susie Stevens, Kinsey Vear and Rae Oleshansky -- won the morning session on Saturday in 7:13:37, with an open-water margin ahead of No. 4 Virginia, Central Florida and Clemson On Saturday afternoon, the 1V4 earned a race win against No. 20 Louisville, West Virginia and Central Florida in 7:04.4. Then on Sunday, they completed their weekend sweep, defeating No. 17 Notre Dame and Kansas with a time of 7:18.9.
• Michigan is in its 20th season of existence in 2016, all under the guidance Rothstein. With just four seniors gone from last year's roster, the Wolverines are led by two seniors: captain Adena Coste and coxswain Emma Knorps. Coste will serve as Michigan's lone captain this season, a rarity in Coach Rothstein's tenure at U-M. She was a member of U-M's winning 2V8 crew at the 2015 Big Ten Rowing Championships.
• Sophomore Rae Oleshansky was honored at Michigan's Student-Athlete Recognition celebration as a role model to a younger generation, earning the Let's Go Do award in education. The award is given to an individual student-athlete who works to drastically impact a school (or school system) through a message of their choice.
• Rowing alumnus Ellen Tomek ('06) clinched a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team with partner Meghan O'Leary at the U.S. Olympic Trials on April 24. Tomek and O'Leary earned their ticket to the Rio Olympics by winning the women's double sculls final at Nathan Benderson Park (Fla.) in 7:09:11. In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Tomek and Meghan Kalmoe finished fifth overall in the double sculls.
• Head coach Mark Rothstein is in his 20th season at the helm of the women's varsity rowing program. Rothstein's teams have finished in the top five of the NCAA Championships a total of eight times, including two runner-up finishes (2001, '12). Coaching Michigan women's rowing for 25 seasons -- five club and 20 varsity -- Rothstein has made the Wolverines one of the most respected programs in the country. He is a four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year honoree, and was named CRCA National Coach of the Year in 2001.
Communications Contact: Jeffrey Weinstein
