Big Ten Championship Weekend Awaits Wolverines in Indianapolis

Sunday, May 15

Indianapolis, Ind.

9:00 AM

Michigan

Big Ten Championships

(Michigan Photography)

Big Ten Championship Weekend Awaits Wolverines in Indianapolis

5/12/2022 9:49:00 AM | Rowing

By: Chad Shepard

THIS WEEK
Sunday, May 15 -- at B1G Championship (Indianapolis, Ind.), 9 a.m. | Championship Central
TV: B1G+ | Live Results | Live Video

• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter |Instagram

This Sunday (May 15), the No. 6-ranked University of Michigan rowing team begins its 2022 postseason journey with a trip to Indianapolis, Ind., and Eagle Creek Park for the Big Ten Championship. The Wolverines will seek a third consecutive conference title, defending the 2019 and 2021 Big Ten titles (2020 was not contested). U-M is the top-seeded boat in all seven events.

The Indianapolis Rowing Center is home to Eagle Creek Park, the site of the Big Ten Championship event each year from 2011-18, and again in 2021. The location features 1,300 acres of water settled into 3,900 acres of wooded terrain; the fourth-largest city park in the nation with plenty of room for spectators.

The event will be streamed live on B1G+. Upon completion, races will also be shared on social media. The television broadcast of this championship event will be tape-delayed, and is currently scheduled to air on Big Ten Network and the Fox Sports app on Saturday, May 21 at 11 a.m. The broadcast event will include interviews with the winning boats, a feature not available to the live audience.

The format for the event will begin with novice eight races, followed by varsity fours, and finishing with varsity eights. All-Big Ten teams are determined by a formula based on the team's first varsity eight finish.

Schedule

Time -- Event (U-M Seed)
9 a.m. -- 2N8 (1)
9:20 -- 1N8 (1)
9:40 -- 3V4 (1)
10 -- 2V4 (1)
10:20 -- 1V4 (1)
10:40 -- 2V8 (1)
11 -- 1V8 (1)
12:30 -- Awards Ceremony

Michigan Lineup

VARSITY LINEUP
1V8: Charlotte Powers (coxswain), Jessica Schoonbee, Katie Easton, Kate Burns, Grace Collins, Elena Collier-Hezel, Abigail Dent, Gabrielle Graves, Ariana Shokoohi

2V8: Ainslie Evans (coxswain), Jeri Rhodes, Carla Russell, Sarah McKay, Brooke Gietzen, Victoria Cooke, Noa Sreden, Kathryn Ward, Aubrey Fitts

1V4: Madelyn Ball, Emma Luniewicz, Cecilia Spesia, Annaka Draaisma, Kaitlin Nemeh (coxswain)

2V4: Delaney Evans, Kate Lucken, Lauren Sickmiller, Olivia McMullen, Kayla Ehrlich (coxswain)

3V4: Elle Caton, Gracie Landefeld, Lauren Benitez, Hadley Camp, Rocky Morabito (coxswain)

1N8: Sophie McSpedon (coxswain), Erin Benitez, Abby Hathaway, Anna Muench, Emily Nelson, Allison Hall, Lauren Boydston, Megan Kleiner, Emma Pettigrew

2N8: Gabby Franco-Borges (coxswain), Caroline Kevnick, Ellen Koselka, Alana Maffesoli, Lauren Lier, Charlotte Trunsky, Madeline Lohse, Matilda Carr, Evyn Johnson

Things to Know

• As the Wolverines begin their pursuit of 2022 postseason success, the program will push to end the year with its seventh consecutive top-10 NCAA finish under six-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Mark Rothstein.

• Before NCAA success is achieved, the team must handle its business at this weekend's Big Ten Championship. U-M seeks its third consecutive conference championship, which would be a program-first. The team has won consecutive conference titles on two occasions (2000-01, '03-04).

• U-M has been first or second in the Big Ten in 16 of 21 conference championships contested, all under Rothstein, with titles in 2000, '01, '03, '04, '12, '19, and '21. The Wolverines are the top-seeded boat in all seven events heading into the 2022 regatta.

• U-M's 2021 team title featured the program's highest-ever Big Ten point total (191 points), and the second-highest figure in conference history (Ohio State, 192). After a second-place finish began the morning in the second novice eight event, U-M swept the remaining schedule, winning six of six races.

• This season, the Wolverines returned 31 of 51 competitors from the 2021 Big Ten Championship roster, including 22 from the five varsity boats.

• Among the returners are second-team All-Big Ten performer Grace Collins, 2018 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jessica Schoonbee, and second-team All-American coxswain Charlotte Powers.

• Winning the conference crown Sunday also provides an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Should it happen this weekend, it would mark U-M's 14th straight appearance at the national regatta.

• The Wolverines have laid claim to the Big Ten Athlete of the Year (or co-winner) three times and the Big Ten Freshman of the Year three times in the last five championships (since 2016). Athlete of the Year winners include Kendall Brewer (co-, 2018), Caroline Hendershot (2019) and Annika Hoffmann (2021). Rookie honorees include Meghan Gutknecht (co-, 2016), Tayla-May Bentley (2017), and Jessica Schoonbee (2018).

• Mark Rothstein joined Jon Jansen on the Conqu'ring Heroes Podcast this week, breaking down the 2022 lineup and previewing the conference championship weekend. » Listen

• U-M sits at No. 6 in the CRCA/USRowing Coaches' Poll, holding in line with polls in recent weeks.

• In total, the Big Ten is represented with four teams ranked in the top 20 nationally, including U-M, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 17 Indiana and No. 18 Rutgers.

• The season has been a buildup, beginning with spring training in Tennessee in late February/early March. The team hosted three events at Belleville Lake, including a matchup with No. 1 Texas in April, and traveled once to Columbus for the Big Ten-ACC Challenge regatta.

• The Wolverines are peaking at the right time. Following the matchup with the Longhorns, the team had outstanding performances at the Big Ten Invitational in Sarasota, Fla., and at home on Senior Day against Louisville.

• A full half (10) of the ranked field was in at Nathan Benderson Park for the Big Ten Invitational. The park will host the NCAA Championships later this month. Ranked programs included (rankings as of competition): No. 2 Stanford, U-M, No. 7 Brown, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 10 Duke, No. 12 Virginia, No. 17 Rutgers, No. 18 Tennessee, No. 19 Washington State and No. 20 Indiana.

• When U-M hosted Texas on April 9, it also held a special post-race event: the signing of Charlie Carino to the Wolverine program through Team IMPACT.

Up Next

Fri-Sun., May 27-29 -- at NCAA Championship (Sarasota, Fla.), TBA