Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Wolverines Collect Sixth Big Ten Championship
5/19/2019 11:13:00 AM | Rowing
» Michigan won the sixth Big Ten Title in program history with four race wins in seven events. Its 186 points are the second-most in Big Ten Championships history.
» Races were moved up two hours to 7 a.m. CDT due to weather concerns in the Baraboo area.
» Under Head Coach Mark Rothstein, the Wolverines have won the league or finished second in 11 of the last 19 seasons.
» In winning today's Big Ten Championship, U-M has received an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships at the end of the month (May 31-June 2).
Site: Madison, Wis. (Devil's Lake)
Event: Big Ten Championships
First Varsity Eight Finish: 6:22.012 (1st of 8), 186 team points
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sun., May 31-June 2 -- at NCAA Championships (Indianapolis, Ind.)
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
BARABOO, Wis. -- Rowing on a tightened schedule through spotty rain showers, the No. 5-ranked University of Michigan rowing program captured its sixth Big Ten Title on Sunday (May 19) on Devil's Lake in Devil's State Park. U-M was aided by gold medal-winning performances from the first varsity eight, second varsity eight, second varsity four and first novice eight boats.
This year's championships were the first outside of Indianapolis, Indiana, since 2010, and in a return trip to the state which hosted Michigan's 2000 Big Ten Title, fortune was again kind to the Wolverines in Wisconsin.
Late on Saturday, the decision was made to move up races two hours to avoid thunderstorms expected to roll into the area. The Wolverines responded to the adjustment well, with medals earned in all seven events. Temperatures crept into the high 40s and low 50s with fog and dense cloud cover, but the rain stayed away until the final race, and the morning was free of lightning.
As the top-seeded boat in six of seven events, U-M's scoring was buoyed by four boats matching or outperforming their seed, including a pivotal win from the first varsity eight -- the first for that boat since 2012. That finish captured 72 early points for U-M and the Wolverines never relinquished the lead, a testament to the team's collective composure.
"This has been a team that has been special", said head coach Mark Rothstein.
"(It's had) great senior leadership, great commitment and is very much a team that understands the team concept. There's no selfishness. Everybody puts the team in front of themselves and I think that showed today."
It was the culmination of more than a year's worth of hard work, and the team's growth during Camp Wolverine pushed them from contenders to champions.
"We've had a great three weeks of preparation since school ended," said Rothstein, "and I think the kids really got dialed in. We've had a lot of really good practices and I knew that if we rowed the way we've practiced that we'd have a good chance."
The morning began with the first varsity eight race, and 72 points on the line for the winning team. U-M started well as it raced neck-and-neck with Iowa in the first 250 meters. U-M began to make a move on the Hawkeyes at 600 meters and put distance on the Iowa boat.
At 750 meters in, U-M had worked themselves up a half-boat length, and around the same time Ohio State began passing Iowa. OSU began its move between 1,000 and 1,250 meters, but every push from the Buckeyes was met with a response from the Wolverines, who continued to hold them off over the latter half of the race.
The Buckeyes made one final push with 500 meters to go, but Michigan shut them down emphatically and left no doubt as to which school has the fastest boat in the Big Ten this year, finishing with a time of 6:22.012. After six consecutive runner-up showings, this win was sweet relief for the Wolverines.
"It felt like we've been building to this over the last few years," said senior Victoria Glunt. "We've gotten better and better each year (I've been here) and working towards this, and it finally came. Perfect timing."
In the next event, the second varsity eight, the Wolverines put themselves in good position by working out front early. Michigan's early lead was slim, but it remained ahead of the Buckeyes, Badgers and Hoosiers. By the 1,000-meter mark, Michigan's lead was being cut into by Ohio State.
The Buckeyes gained about two seats' worth of ground before Michigan's long, smooth strokes took back over and helped the Wolverines slam the door shut over the last 500 meters, finishing in 6:30.479. It was another big win for the Maize and Blue, and the third Big Ten title for that boat in the last five years.
In the first varsity four, Michigan earned its first silver medal of the day in another tightly-contested race. U-M led in the early going, jockeying back and forth with the Buckeyes for lead position. Both boats were neck-and-neck, and the Buckeyes began to create a lead near the midway point of the race. U-M kept tight with the Buckeyes and even took the lead back for a moment near the 1,250-meter mark, but they could not maintain that gap.
Ohio State moved up two seats in the last 500 meters, then lengthened that lead to about four seats after holding off U-M's sprint. The Wolverines kept their stroke-rate high though, and made OSU earn every inch of water. There was big acceleration down the finish and Indiana made a late push, but the Wolverines held them off and crossed the line in second place.
The second varsity four boats had to circle back after a technical error with the launch boat, being forced to restart the race. But it did not matter for U-M, which won by its biggest margin of the day. By the 1,000-meter mark, the Wolverines were up a half-boat length on OSU with Rutgers and Indiana giving chase.
At 1,250 meters, U-M had stretched its lead into a full boat length, and by 1,500 meters, open water. Rutgers shook off the Hoosiers and did battle with OSU for a silver medal, because Michigan was in a class of its own during this race. U-M collected its most dramatic winning margin of the day and Big Ten gold for the first time since 2016.
In the third varsity four, Michigan was up in the first 1,000 meters but did not create significant distance between themselves and the Buckeyes. It led to a back-and-forth latter half of the race, in which both boats traded the lead. Over the final sprint, the Buckeyes just edged out U-M to take gold in 7:27.837 with the Wolverines (+.296).
The novice eight also suffered a restart at the finish line, but the young boat showed poise and composure once the race began. It was a tight battle, with Ohio State and Indiana fighting with U-M for the lead. The Wolverines held off all comers, though, crossing more than three seconds ahead of the Buckeyes.
The second novice eight race was the final event of the day, and U-M placed third. That gave the Wolverines a medalist finish in each race.
"Building depth has been a big goal for us over the last several years, and this team probably has more depth than any team we've ever had," said Rothstein.
"Top to bottom it's a very strong team and it's just a team that any coach would love to coach, so I'm really happy for them."
"I think we're the luckiest team in the world. I've never been on a team like this where we care so much about each other and everyone works so hard," said senior Kathryn Grotto. "It's such a privilege to be part of this team."
The television broadcast of today's races will air on Sunday, May 26 at 11 a.m. on Big Ten Network.
Up next for the Wolverines will be the NCAA Championships, May 31-June 2, at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Results
First Varsity Eight
1. MICHIGAN -- 6:22.012
2. Ohio State -- 6:24.504
3. Iowa -- 6:26.614
4. Rutgers -- 6:28.472
5. Wisconsin -- 6:41.934
6. Michigan State -- 6:35.124
7. Indiana -- 6:36.894
8. Minnesota -- 6:36.914
Second Varsity Eight
1. MICHIGAN -- 6:30.479
2. Ohio State -- 6:35.079
3. Indiana -- 6:39.079
4. Wisconsin -- 6:42.287
5. Michigan State -- 6:42.497
6. Rutgers -- 6:43.569
7. Minnesota -- 6:43.871
8. Iowa -- 6:54.113Â
First Varsity Four
1. Ohio State -- 7:17.351
2. MICHIGAN -- 7:19.003
3. Indiana -- 7:23.147
4. Wisconsin -- 7:28.423
5. Rutgers -- 7:32.507
6. Iowa -- 7:36.667
7. Minnesota -- 7:38.059
8. Michigan State -- 7:46.879Â
Second Varsity Four
1. MICHIGAN -- 7:30.616
2. Rutgers -- 7:34.542
3. Ohio State -- 7:38.942
4. Indiana -- 7:40.900
5. Minnesota -- 7:42.318
6. Wisconsin -- 7:46.420
7. Michigan State -- 7:56.061
8. Iowa -- 8:01.275Â
Third Varsity Four
1. Ohio State -- 7:27.837
2. MICHIGAN -- 7:28.133
3. Minnesota -- 7:40.355
4. Wisconsin -- 7:47.467
5. Indiana -- 7:47.621
6. Iowa -- 8:00.471
7. Rutgers -- 8:15.611
First Novice Eight
1. MICHIGAN -- 6:37.253
2. Ohio State -- 6:40.677
3. Indiana -- 6:41.039
4. Wisconsin -- 6:46.351
5. Rutgers -- 6:48.671
6. Minnesota -- 6:55.135
7. Michigan State -- 7:04.233
8. Iowa -- 7:24.263Â
Second Novice Eight
1. Ohio State -- 6:50.423
2. Wisconsin -- 6:53.183
3. MICHIGAN -- 6:58.407
4. Michigan State -- 7:01.529
5. Rutgers -- 7:02.037
6. Minnesota -- 7:16.513
7. Iowa -- 7:37.361
Lineups
1V8: Charlotte Powers (coxswain), Jessica Schoonbee, Caroline Hendershot, Madison Byrd, Victoria Glunt, Grace Collins, Tayla-May Bentley, Kathryn Grotto, Annika Hoffmann
2V8: Erika Yasuda (coxswain), Grace Gagliardi, Meghan Gutknecht, Emma Luniewicz, Jeri Rhodes, Kate Burns, Megan Hinkle, Rachel Fanning, Shayla Lamb
1V4: Emily Krebs, Rebecca Joyce, Perry Bower, Lilia Duncan, Sujin Kim (coxswain)
2V4: Lillian Mei, Madeleine Schneider, Paige Badenhorst, Julia Gehlert, Darien Moses (coxswain)
3V4: Tate Aronstein, Ally Eggleton, Caroline McGee, Noa Sreden, Lily Miller (coxswain)
1N8: Kayla Ehrlich (coxswain), Madelyn Ball, Victoria Cooke, Elizabeth Schlyer, Madison McGivney, Jessica Kohl, Katie Ward, Carly Bunuan, Lauren Sickmiller
2N8: Kaitlin Nemeh (coxswain), Abigail Guimond, Lara Vanderbilt, Emma Hammond, Hadley Camp, Tara Flaherty, Kiana Mayer, Emma Nofz, Maggie Thom
Tweet of the Day
Hear from two of our senior leaders, Katie Grotto and Victoria Glunt, on the emotions surrounding today's B1G Title.
— Michigan Rowing (@umichrowing) May 19, 2019
So proud of these ladies, and all our Wolverines!#RowBlue#B1GChamps pic.twitter.com/hsQ7LPpuj9
Players Mentioned
