Season Preview: 2019 Michigan Rowing

» Michigan enters its 23rd season of varsity competition under the leadership of head coach Mark Rothstein.
» Under Rothstein's direction, U-M has been first or second in the Big Ten in 10 of 18 seasons, including a runner-up finish last spring.
» U-M will play host for two events this spring: March 30 against Yale and Harvard, and May 5 against Louisville and Michigan State. The final date represents Senior Day for U-M.

The University of Michigan rowing team enters its 23rd season of varsity competition under the leadership of head coach Mark Rothstein. Michigan aims to regain its status at the NCAA podium after a seventh-place finish last season and a third-place showing in 2017. The Wolverines have earned a top-10 national finish in five straight years and 16 times overall under Rothstein.

Wolverine Bites

• The Big Ten crown remains the top prize for the Wolverines, as the team has raced to runner-up finishes in five of the last six years. The Maize and Blue will pursue its sixth conference crown this spring in Madison, Wisconsin -- the site of the program's first-ever title in 2000.

• Michigan checked in at No. 9 in the preseason edition of this season's CRCA/USRowing Preseason Coaches' Poll. When it comes to the early-season version of this poll, U-M has been ranked outside the top 10 only once in the last five seasons.

• The Maize and Blue hopes to return to the NCAA podium like it did in 2017 with a third-place national showing and second-place Big Ten finish. It was tied for the second-best finish in team history, and the best since the Wolverines were national runners-up in 2012.

• U-M rowed three times last fall, including a trip to the 54th annual Head of the Charles regatta, where the varsity eight finished ninth overall and seventh among collegiate programs.

• Michigan enters the spring of 2019 with a slightly adjusted coaching staff. Former graduate assistant Dan Harrison is now an assistant coach, working with the novice team while former All-Americans Kate Wright and Kalia Krichko have joined the staff as graduate and undergraduate assistants, respectively.

• U-M returns to the water fresh off a week of hard work and preparation for the spring season. The Wolverines were in Caryville, Tennessee, for a week of on-the-water training.

• Director of Performance Nutrition Caroline Mandel and Performance Dining Executive Chef Chris Carr accompanied the team on its trip to help the team rehydrate, refuel, and eat right during its time in Tennessee.

While we were on our Spring Training Trip, Performance Dining Chef Chris Carr made sure we refueled and ate right! We're lucky to have him and Director of Performance Nutrition Caroline Mandel with our team!

After a great trip, we are ready to get back on the water! #RowBlue ?? pic.twitter.com/hdz8oGaTBS
— Michigan Rowing (@umichrowing) March 13, 2019

Breaking Down the Roster

• U-M will return 17 of 23 student-athletes from its 2018 NCAA Championships roster, including Pocock All-American (second team) Meghan Gutknecht.

• Michigan's seniors this year number 1: Rachel Fanning, Grace Gagliardi, Victoria Glunt, Kathryn Grotto, Gutknecht, Caroline Hendershot, Rebecca Joyce, Emily Krebs, Shayla Lamb and Catherine Olson.

• The Wolverines also return 24 athletes from last year's varsity Big Ten runner-up roster, including 13 rowers from the first (five returners) and second (eight returners) varsity eight boats. Eleven returners from novice boats at the Big Ten Championships will be back for the 2019 season as well.

• The roster includes 15 true freshmen, with a large number of newcomers hoping to make a splash with the varsity roster. Look out for rookies Jessica Schoonbee, Jeri Rhodes and Caroline McGee among others.

• Gutknecht and sophomore Megan Hinkle represented the U.S. in international competition last summer, rowing with Team USA at the World Rowing U-23 Championships. Gutknecht helped the straight four finish 10th overall, while Hinkle's quad sculls boat placed sixth.

They Said It

Senior Captain Meghan Gutknecht

On the team's spring training trip in Caryville, Tennessee:
"The trip went really well. I liked being in the cabins. It was a new experience; different from being in a hotel all day and it promoted bonding in a way that was a little more natural and a little less forced. It was a little cold, a little rainy, but it's nothing we're not used to. It was exciting to get out on the water and see where we stand and all the work we have to do. The trip brought on good feelings all around. Everyone was excited to be there."

On having Performance Dining Executive Chef Chris Carr travel with the team:
"It was amazing! I don't think I was hungry once on the trip, which is saying a lot because it takes a lot to keep (our team) full. It was great to have someone so knowledgeable about what we should be eating daily, and helping us build good habits for the rest of the season."

On developing mental toughness and anticipation to see where the team is at:
"The biggest thing is just going out there and being ruthless -- we've been practicing with the mentality that it's a one-shot, give-all-you-can approach for whatever we have that day. We've spent the past couple of months cultivating that mind-set. So we need to put that into action and use that to gauge what we have left to do over the next two months."

On the competitive hunger of this year's team:
"I think we're very hungry. I think we learned a lot from the classes above us and the years before this one. We're doing a really good job of taking all those lessons, bringing them together and putting that towards the rest of the team to get them as hungry as we are. That's the biggest thing -- for a team to be hungry it can't just be the seniors, it has to be every class and I think we are doing a really good job of finding that, fast."

Rowing

2019 Schedule

• U-M will open its 2019 slate with a home event at the end of March, welcoming Harvard and Yale to Belleville Lake on March 30. The Ivy powers have made a habit of coming to U-M, as this is the second time in the past three seasons that the Crimson and Bulldogs have come to Ann Arbor, and the fourth time in the last five years overall that a pair of Ivy League programs have competed here.

• This season's Big Ten Championships (May 19) will be held in Madison, Wisconsin, returning to the Badger State for the first time since 2007. It is the third time overall that the University of Wisconsin has hosted the conference championship (2000).

• U-M brings positive history from this location to the Big Ten regatta: the Wolverines won the Big Ten during the 2000 championships and finished second to Minnesota in 2007, with both events being held in Madison.

• The site moving to Wisconsin ends an eight-year streak of racing in Indianapolis, Indiana. But fear not, fans of Indy -- the city hosts the NCAA Championships this year.

• The Wolverines' Senior Day will take place on Sunday, May 5, at 9 a.m. against Louisville and Michigan State.

• The Wolverines also will take trips to Charlottesville, Virginia (April 6), Columbus, Ohio (April 13), and Las Vegas, Nevada (April 20) during the regular season.