Season Review: 2015-16 Michigan Rowing
6/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
June 17, 2016
Team Captain: Adena Coste
Big Ten Championships: 3rd (154 points)
NCAA Championships: 10th (75 points)
For the third straight year and the 14th time in 20 years as a varsity program, the University of Michigan rowing team earned a top-10 finish at the NCAA regatta, placing 10th at the 2016 NCAA Championships. The Wolverines placed the 1V4 -- Nadia Roohparvar (coxswain), Kinsey Vear, Lauren Gilbert, Mallory Jamett and Susie Stevens -- in the Grand Final and the 1V8 and 2V8 in the Petite Final, with the varsity four earning a spot in the penultimate race for the first time since 2003. The 1V4 finished sixth overall, while the 1V8 took 11th place, and the 2V8 finished in 12th. At the Big Ten Rowing Championships two weeks earlier, Michigan finished third overall with the 2V4 earning an individual boat title and six of seven crews earning a spot on the podium (top-three finish).
Team Highlights
• Michigan's 1V8 had five race wins on the spring season and finished ahead of nationally ranked crews from Gonzaga, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Radcliffe, Syracuse, Washington State and Yale in races this season. The Wolverines' first varsity eight crew (NCAA roster - Francesca Derteano (coxswain), Louisa Freeman, Kaitlin Wright, Kendall Brewer, Tessa Yurko, Shayla Lamb, Lexie Beemer, Meghan Gutknecht and Felicity Cain) climbed as high as sixth in the cMax Rankings, their highest ranking of the year after a strong showing at the Big Ten Rowing Championships. Michigan finished second in the final in a photo finish with Ohio State in 6:22.794.
• The Wolverines had their lone home regatta at Belleville Lake on April 30, hosting Louisville and Michigan State. Michigan won all four varsity races (1V8, 2V8, 1V4, and 2V4) and honored five seniors at the conclusion of racing -- Adena Coste, Emma Knorps, Arielle Sanders, Halli Travers and Ty Wellik.
• On April 16-17, Michigan competed against six nationally ranked crews at the 20-team Clemson Invitational. Michigan's 2V4 swept the weekend with three race wins, including an exciting finish ahead of Virginia. In total, Michigan picked up eight race wins on the weekend, with each varsity crew -- 2V4 (3), 1V4 (2), 2V8 (2) and 1V8 (1) -- earning victories.
• On April 9, the Wolverines were led by their second varsity eight crew, which earned two race wins in a Big Ten Double Dual against No. 3 Ohio State and Rutgers on Carnegie Lake. Michigan edged the Buckeyes by a few seats with a 6:48.6 finish. Ohio State finished in 6:52.0.
• Michigan opened its spring season March 12-13 at the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational with a strong showing against a deep field, winning nine of 12 races over the course of the two-day competition on Melton Hill Lake.
• Michigan placed both the first varsity eight (7th) and second varsity eight (14th) in the top 15 at the Women's Championship Eights race on Oct. 18 at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On a famed course that features several turns and bridges, the Wolverines fared well in a field that featured 32 of the top collegiate programs in the nation. The first varsity eight crew closed with the fifth-fastest split time (2:41.272) from the Cambridge Boat Club to the finish to climb into seventh place, crossing the line in 16.49.478. Michigan's 2V8 crew started fast through the first several turns in the course and closed strong with a 2:43.358 split to finish in 14th place.
Individual Highlights
• Sophomore Kendall Brewer and junior Kaitlin Wright were named Pocock second team All-Americans by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association. Brewer, a native of Austin, Texas, is in her second season on Michigan's 1V8. She earned All-Big Ten first team and CRCA All-Region first ream honors previously this season. Wright, a native of Lakeville, Minnesota, is also in her second year on the first varsity eight. She collected All-Big Ten first team and CRCA All-Region honors in May. In the No. 7 seat on Michigan's 1V8, Wright was one of the Wolverines' team leaders in 2015-16 and will be part of a first varsity eight crew that returns its entire boat roster in 2016-17.
• In addition, junior Tessa Yurko earned CRCA All-Region second team honors. A native of Buffalo, New York, Yurko earned All-Big Ten second team honors rowing in the No. 5 seat of the 1V8.
• Freshman Meghan Gutknecht earned B1G Rowing Co-Freshman of the Year honors. Gutknecht is the sixth Wolverine to earn Freshman of the Year honors and the first since 2012, when Jessica Eiffert earned the honor. A native of Guilderland, New York, Gutknecht has made an immediate impact as a freshman. She began the year in the first varsity eight boat in the fall and has been a key part of the 1V8 in the spring rowing in the No. 2 seat. In addition to Gutknecht's award, four Wolverines earned All-Big Ten recognition. Sophomore Kendall Brewer and junior Kaitlin Wright were named All-Big Ten First Team selections, while junior Louisa Freeman and junior Tessa Yurko earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors.
• Sophomore Kendall Brewer and junior Tessa Yurko were invited to USRowing's U23 Selection Camp to be held this summer in Princeton, New Jersey. Of the 33 participating in the camp, a selection of the women's eight, four and quadruple sculls will take place for the World Rowing U23 Championships on Aug. 21-28 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
• 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.
Honors and Awards
Kendall Brewer
Louisa Freeman
Meghan Gutknecht
Kaitlin Wright
Tessa Yurko
2016 CRCA POCOCK All-AMERICA SECOND TEAM
Kendall Brewer, Sophomore
Kaitlin Wright, Junior
2016 CRCA ALL-REGION FIRST TEAM
Kendall Brewer, Sophomore
Kaitlin Wright, Junior
2016 CRCA SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
Adena Coste, Senior
Laura Foster, Junior
Lauren Gilbert, Junior
Karla McDaniel, Junior
Kinsey Vear, Junior
Kaitlin Wright, Junior
2016 BIG TEN CO-FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Meghan Gutknecht, Freshman
2016 ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
Kendall Brewer, Sophomore
Kaitlin Wright, Junior
2016 ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
Louisa Freeman, Junior
Tessa Yurko, Junior
Communications Contact: Jeffrey Weinstein
