Four Wolverines Pick Up All-American Honors
7/16/2018 11:29:00 AM | Rowing
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After helping the University of Michigan Rowing program to its fifth consecutive top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships, four Wolverines have been recognized as All-Americans by Pocock and the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA), the organization announced on Saturday (July 14). Senior co-captain Kendall Brewer closed her outstanding Michigan career with her third career All-American honor while junior Meghan Gutknecht (second team) and seniors Kalia Krichko (second team) and Flick Cain (honorable mention) also earned the prestigious national recognition.
All four of this year's honorees were part of the 1V8 boat which finished 10th at the NCAA Championships this spring, helping to push U-M into seventh place as a team. Brewer rowed in the third seat with Gutknecht in the second seat, and Krichko rowed stroke with Cain in bow seat.
All four athletes became eligible for All-American selection after being named to the Big Ten's All-Conference Team in early June. Student-athletes must have rowed in at least 75 percent of the season's races in the varsity boat, and other criteria considered for selection include: boat performance, nomination rank, coach's comments, individual achievements and 2k erg score.
A native of Austin, Texas, Brewer won a bronze medal (pairs) as part of Team USA at the Under-23 World Championships last summer, and she was recognized as Big Ten Co-Athlete of the Year this spring. She has rowed exclusively in the 1V8 boat during her career at U-M, helping the top Wolverine boat finish fifth at the NCAA Championships in 2017 with eighth- (2015) and 11th-place (2016) finishes earlier in her career, in addition to this year's successes.
Beyond her Co-Athlete of the Year honors, Brewer was one of four Wolverines to pick up All-Big Ten honors at the Big Ten Championships (May 13). She is a three-time first team All-Big Ten selection, and recently graduated with her degree in sociology.
Gutknecht is a Guilderland, New York, native, and also has experience competing for Team USA at the Under-23 World Championships. She rowed quad sculls, finishing sixth, at last summer's Championships and earlier this week was named to her second consecutive U.S. Under-23 Team. She'll race in the Strait Four (4-) in Poland, July 25-29. Gutknecht was another immediate contributor to U-M's 1V8 crew as a freshman, and she has been a fixture ever since. Gutknecht was also rewarded with her first All-Big Ten honor earlier this spring.
Krichko hails from Ridgefield, Connecticut, and was also a Pocock All-American in 2017, making her a two-time second team honoree. She was also a CRCA All-Region honoree (second team) last spring before securing All-Big Ten accolades in 2018, her first conference award. An engineering major, Krichko got her start rowing on U-M's second varsity eight and third varsity four crews, before advancing to the first varsity four and then the 1V8 as an upperclassman.
Cain earned her first national recognition with this announcement. The Darien, Connecticut, native has been a staple in the lineups of Michigan's top two eight boats throughout her career, rowing in both the 1V8 and 2V8 from the time she was a freshman. She has been part of three boats that finished top-10 at the NCAA Championships (fifth in 2015, 1V8; third in 2017, 2V8; seventh in 2018, 1V8). Earlier this spring, Cain earned her first All-Big Ten selection and she recently earned her sociology degree with minors in environment and creative writing.
• Pocock Release
Players Mentioned
