Wolverines Earn 12th Straight Bid to NCAA Championships
5/21/2019 5:16:00 PM | Rowing
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan rowing team earned its 12th consecutive NCAA Championships bid by virtue of the team's performance at the Big Ten Championships last weekend (May 19), and the remainder of the field was announced by the NCAA on Tuesday (May 21).
Michigan will travel to Indianapolis for the three-day event beginning Friday (May 31) and ending Sunday (June 2). Eagle Creek Park will host the championship regatta, the same location of the Big Ten Championships from 2010-18. Indiana University is the NCAA host institution in conjunction with the Indiana Sports Corp and Indianapolis Rowing Center. This marks the first time since 2014 that the city of Indianapolis has played host for the NCAA Championships, and the fifth time overall (2002, '03, '13, '14).
Among Big Ten programs in the field, U-M is joined by No. 6 Ohio State, No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 12 Iowa, No. 14 Rutgers, and No. 16 Indiana, meaning three quarters of the conference will be represented at the championship regatta. The six entries from the Big Ten are a conference record and the most of any conference this year, with the four bids from the Ivy League being next-closest.
Competitions will include the first varsity eight, second varsity eight and first varsity four races. The three boats from each school will compete for individual national titles while earning points toward the overall team championship.
Michigan will enter the championship as the No. 6 seed in the first varsity eight. U-M is ranked as the No. 2 seed in the second varsity eight and the No. 5 seed in the varsity four, and is the top-ranked Big Ten boat in both varsity eight races. Michigan is one of 22 teams competing overall, and is one of 11 automatic qualifiers. Princeton (Ivy League), Texas (Big 12), Virginia (ACC), Washington (Pac-12) and others are among the conference-champion automatic qualifiers.
Michigan will leave for the NCAA Championships this weekend to begin training in Cincinnati, Ohio, before they travel to Indianapolis mid-next week. The early travel time will allow U-M to get acclimated to hotter temperatures than they're used to and a course they haven't seen in a year. Division I races will begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 31.
Today's announcement comes on the heels of a busy conference championship weekend across the country. Last Sunday (May 19), Michigan won the program's sixth Big Ten Title, accumulating 186 points for a program-high at the event. U-M medaled in all seven events and captured gold in the first varsity eight, second varsity eight, second varsity four and first novice eight.
Michigan has placed in the top five in nine of its 19 NCAA appearances and has placed in the top 10 a total of 16 times, including a third-place podium finish in 2017 and a seventh-place showing last spring.
The Wolverines were the national runners-up in 2001 and 2012, their highest finish ever at the NCAA Regatta. In 2012, the Michigan 2V8 boat won a national championship, helping the Wolverines to second place in the team standings behind Virginia.
Tickets for the 2019 NCAA Divisions I, II and III Women's Rowing Championships are on sale to the general public and can be purchased through the host website. More information is available through the Indiana Sports Corp. website. All races will be streamed live and free of charge on NCAA.com.
