Michigan
Texas
No. 6 Michigan, Top-Ranked Texas Set for Saturday Racing on Belleville Lake
4/7/2022 10:00:00 AM | Rowing
THIS WEEK
Saturday, April 9 -- vs. Texas (Belleville, Mich.), 9 a.m.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Back in action at Belleville Lake this weekend, the No. 6-ranked University of Michigan rowing team will host No. 1-ranked Texas on Saturday (April 9) for a single session of head-to-head competition across four championship events. The teams will compete through crisp temperatures across a 2,000-meter race on Belleville Lake.
The Wolverines and Longhorns will race in the first and second varsity eight and first and second varsity four events. U-M will also row two sets of two novice fours against one another to round out the schedule. Nearly 30 Michigan student-athletes will compete against Texas this week, plus another 20 racing against each other.
This marks the second year running that UT has come northeast to race against the Wolverines. Each of the two perennial powerhouses provides the other with a high level of competition early in the season. They will no doubt expect to be lining up against each other once again at the end of May at the NCAA Championships.
The full schedule is below:
TIME -- EVENT | BOAT (LANE)
9 a.m. -- 2V4 | Texas (1) | U-M (2) | U-M (3)
9:16 -- 1V4 | Michigan (1) | Texas (2)
9:32 -- 2V8 | Texas (1) | Michigan (2)
9:48 -- 1V8 | Michigan (1) | Texas (2)
10:10 -- N4+ (ex) | Michigan (1) | Michigan (2) | Michigan (3)
10:25 -- N4+ (ex) | Michigan (1) | Michigan (2)
MICHIGAN LINEUP
1V8: Charlotte Powers (coxswain), Jessica Schoonbee, Gabrielle Graves, Grace Collins, Kate Burns, Abigail Dent, Zara Collisson, Ariana Shokoohi, Elena Collier-Hezel
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2V8: Ainslie Evans (coxswain), Cecilia Spesia, Brooke Gietzen, Noa Sreden, Kathryn Ward, Emma Luniewicz, Sarah McKay, Katie Easton, Carla Russell
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1V4: Annaka Draaisma, Madelyn Ball, Lauren Sickmiller, Gracie Landefeld, Kayla Ehrlich (coxswain)
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2V4: Elle Caton, Jeri Rhodes, Delaney Evans, Olivia McMullen, Rocky Morabito (coxswain)
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3V4: Kate Lucken, Lauren Benitez, Aubrey Fitts, Julia Casey, Alexandra Gabel (coxswain)
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N4 (Heat 1 Lane 1): Abby Hathaway, Erin Benitez, Anna Muench, Emily Nelson, Sophie McSpedon (coxswain)
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N4 (Heat 1 Lane 2): Lauren Lier, Allison Hall, Lauren Boydston, Megan Kleiner, Gaby Franco-Borges (coxswain)
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N4 (Heat 1 Lane 3): Madeline Lohse, Emma Pettigrew, Ellen Koselka, Alana Maffesoli, Kaitlin Nemeh (coxswain)
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N4 (Heat 2 Lane 1): Caroline Kevnick, Evyn Johnson, Charlotte Trunsky, Matilda Carr, Samantha Perlman (coxswain)
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N4 (Heat 2 Lane 2): Anna Machak, Audrey Becker, Jillian Rhoney, Lauren Lutz, Lira Bordoley (coxswain)
THINGS TO KNOW
• U-M currently sits at No. 6 in the Pocock CRCA Poll and is the top-ranked team from the Big Ten.
• Overall, the conference has four teams presently ranked in the top 20 nationally, including U-M, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 13 Rutgers and No. 20 Indiana.
• Last weekend, U-M raced in Columbus, Ohio, as part of the B1G-ACC Challenge, competing against No. 11 Virginia and No. 12 Duke. The 1V8, 1V4, and 2V4 boats swept their ACC opponents and the 3V4 boat split.
• The Wolverines opened the spring season in Tennessee for the program's spring training trip. U-M had competitive scrimmage pieces against Louisville and Tennessee before returning to Ann Arbor. Then U-M hosted Indiana (March 25) for a set of Friday scrimmages.
• U-M has been Big Ten's best in recent years, winning consecutive conference titles (2019, '21) for the third time in program history (2000-01, 2003-04). The Wolverines return 31 of 51 athletes from last year's Big Ten squad including second-team All-Big Ten athlete Grace Collins.
• UT is the defending National Champions (2021) and was the national runner-up in 2019. Three years ago, U-M's 1V8 boat finished .688 behind the Longhorns in the battle for silver and bronze, and the Wolverines were fourth when the Longhorns won gold last spring. Despite competing in different conferences and regions, the two programs have grown familiar in recent years.
• This marks Texas' second straight trip to Ann Arbor after the programs raced in Las Vegas back in the spring of 2018, their first regular-season meeting.
• Collins and fellow upperclassman Kathryn Ward recapped the team's spring training period and discussed several other topics in a Senior Q&A last week.
• U-M will host one final event at Belleville Lake this spring when the program welcomes Louisville for a Senior Day celebration on May 1.
UP NEXT
Fri-Sat., April 15-16 -- at B1G Invitational (Sarasota, Fla.), TBA
Sunday, May 1 -- vs. Louisville/Senior Day (Belleville, Mich.), 9 a.m.
Players Mentioned
