Season Review: 2018-19 Michigan Rowing
7/10/2019 12:00:00 PM | Rowing
Big Ten Championships: 1st Place (186 points)
NCAA Championships: 3rd Place (119 points)
For the second time in the past three years, the University of Michigan rowing program earned a podium finish at the NCAA Championships, placing third as a team with a program-record 119 points scored. This time, it was done with a Big Ten Title in tow, the team's first since 2012. For a team with high, self-imposed expectations, it was a season that stacks up with the 2000, 2012 and 2017 seasons as the best in program history.
Team Highlights
• Another Trip to the Podium: The Wolverines finished as the third-place team at the NCAA Championships for the second time in the last three seasons, totaling a program-record 119 points along the way thanks to bronze medal-winning performances from the 1V8 and 2V8 and a fourth-place finish from the 1V4. It was U-M's first season with multiple medalist boats since 2012, and the third such season in program history (2000).
• Winning the Big Ten at its Best: Michigan aced its conference test two weekends earlier, scratching out 186 points for a new program record and the No. 2 all-time point total in Big Ten history. U-M was the top-seeded boat in six of seven races, and collected four gold medals, two silvers and one bronze. It was especially sweet considering the Big Ten was the best conference on the country in 2019, as six programs finished in the top 13 nationally and boasted an NCAA-best six qualifiers for the championship regatta. The next-closest conference, the Ivy League, had four qualifiers.
• Classroom Success: The Wolverines had an impressive 33 Academic All-Big Ten students this spring, including 11 Distinguished Scholars, best among all spring sports at Michigan. Leading the way was Annika Hoffmann, a double-major with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.
• Proving the Pollsters Right: U-M earned a top-10 preseason ranking for the fourth time in the last five years, and even that praise undersold the Wolverines. The Maize and Blue finished the season with a No. 3 overall ranking, having been ranked in the top-five for seven straight weeks to close the year.
• Senior Day Sweep: Continuing with annual tradition, the Wolverines hosted Louisville in the team's final event of the regular season, and also competed with Michigan State. The Wolverines took the opportunity to honor the team's nine-member senior class. U-M won all five races on the day, and Rachel Fanning, Grace Gagliardi, Victoria Glunt, Kathryn Grotto, Meghan Gutknecht, Caroline Hendershot, Emily Krebs, Shayla Lamb and Catherine Olson were recognized in a post-race ceremony at the Belleville Boat House.
Individual Highlights
• Honored by Pocock: Michigan's All-American streak continued this year, as five honors were collected by Wolverine athletes. This makes it 12 years running that U-M has had at least one All-America selection. This year, Caroline Hendershot, Victoria Glunt and coxswain Charlotte Powers earned first-team honors, while Madison Byrd and Kathryn Grotto secured second-team accolades.
• Hendershot Joins Big Ten's Best: For the second year running, Michigan boasted the Big Ten Athlete of the Year. Hendershot won the honor after rowing seventh for the 1V8, which won Big Ten gold and paved the way for the team's sixth conference title, scoring 72 out of the team's 186 points. Hendershot joins last year's co-recipient Kendall Brewer (2018), Felice Mueller (2012), Heather Mandoli (2004), Erin Kopicki (2003) and Kate Johnson (2000-01) among Michigan's previous winners.
• Hoffmann Earns Elite 90 Honor: Sophomore Annika Hoffmann became the third woman in U-M history and the fifth individual overall to collect Elite 90 honors. The Elite 90 award is presented at each of the NCAA's 90 championship events to the participating athlete with the highest GPA. Hoffmann's perfect 4.0 GPA earned her the honor as she studies Political Science and Comparative Literature in U-M's College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LS&A). She joins Kinsey Vear (2016) as the two winners in program history.
• Schoonbee Keeps Rookie Streak Going: Freshman 1V8 stroke seat Jessica Schoonbee was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year following the championships. With Schoonbee collecting this year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year award, Michigan can boast three of the last four honorees and eight winners overall. Meghan Gutknecht won the award in 2016, followed by Schoonbee's fellow South African Tayla-May Bentley accepting the distinction one year later (2017).
Honors and Awards
Caroline
Hendershot
Victoria
Glunt
Kathryn
Grotto
Madison
Byrd
Jessica
Schoonbee
All-America (5)
Victoria Glunt (first team)
Caroline Hendershot (first team)
Charlotte Powers (first team, coxswain)
Madison Byrd (second team)
Katie Grotto (second team)
All-Big Ten Conference (5)
Victoria Glunt (first team)
Kathryn Grotto (first team)
Caroline Hendershot (first team)
Tayla-May Bentley (second team)
Madison Byrd (second team)
Other Individual Big Ten Awards
Big Ten Coach of the Year -- Mark Rothstein
Big Ten Athlete of the Year -- Caroline Hendershot
Big Ten Freshman of the Year -- Jessica Schoonbee
Big Ten Boat of the Week
First Varsity Eight (April 2)
First Varsity Four (April 9, April 23)
Elite 90 Award Winner
Annika Hoffmann, Comparative Literature, Political Science
CRCA Scholar Athletes (11)
Paige Badenhorst, Organizational Studies, Environment
Perry Bower, Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience (BCN)
Katherine Burns, Industrial & Operations Engineering
Fleur De Jong, Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience (BCN)
Victoria Glunt, Industrial and Operations Engineering
Meghan Gutknecht, Environment
Annika Hoffmann, Comparative Literature, Political Science
Catherine Olson, Information
Madeleine Schneider, Comparative Literature, International Studies
Erika Yasuda, Movement Science
Big Ten Distinguished Scholars (11)
Tayla-May Bentley, Jr., Communications, Psychology
Perry Bower, Sr., Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience
Toni Catalan, So., Biochemistry, Spanish
Fleur De Jong, So., Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience
Natalie Douglas, So., Health & Fitness
Kathryn Grotto, Sr., Psychology
Meghan Gutknecht, Sr., Environment
Caroline Hendershot, Sr., Communications
Annika Hoffmann, So., Political Science, Comparative Literature
Emily Krebs, Sr., Biomedical Engineering
Madeleine Schneider, Jr., Comparative Literature, International Studies
Academic All-Big Ten (33)
Paige Badenhorst, So., Environment, Organizational Studies
Tayla-May Bentley, Jr., Communications, Psychology
Perry Bower, Sr., Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience
Kate Burns, So., Industrial and Operations Engineering
Toni Catalan, So., Biochemistry, Spanish
Fleur De Jong, So., Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience
Natalie Douglas, So., Health & Fitness
Ally Eggleton, So., Environment, Psychology
Rachel Fanning, Sr., Business Administration
Marissa Gabriel, So., Mechanical Engineering
Grace Gagliardi, Sr., English
Julia Gehlert, So., English
Victoria Glunt, Sr., Industrial and Operations Engineering
Audrey Gordon, Jr., English
Tacy Greissinger, Jr., Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience
Kathryn Grotto, Sr., Psychology
Meghan Gutknecht, Sr., Environment
Caroline Hendershot, Sr., Communications
Annika Hoffmann, So., Political Science, Comparative Literature
Eliese Hornberger-Rocco, Jr., Sport Management
Rebecca Joyce, Sr., Environment
Emily Krebs, Sr., Biomedical Engineering
Shayla Lamb, Sr., Sport Management
Caroline Louge, So., Public Policy
Emma Luniewicz, So., Sport Management
Lily Miller, Jr., Biology
Catherine Olson, Sr., Information
Madeleine Schneider, Jr., Comparative Literature, International Studies
Amelia Simpson, Sr., Movement Science
Noa Sreden, So., Undeclared
Maggie Thom, So., Political Science
Taylor Toudouze, So., Economics
Erika Yasuda, Jr., Movement Science
Players Mentioned
