Five Wolverines Earn All-Conference Recognition
5/14/2023 1:30:00 PM | Rowing
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan rowing program saw five of its student-athletes named to the All-Big Ten Conference team after the team captured its eighth Big Ten Championship on Sunday (May 14), the league announced. First-team honorees included juniors Abigail Dent and Zara Collisson as well as sophomore Katie Easton. Sophomore Gabrielle Graves and senior Aubrey Fitts were named All-Big Ten second team.
All five Wolverines honored received their first all-conference recognitions. Each is a member of U-M's 1V8, which won gold during Sunday's championship regatta to secure 72 points and lock the Wolverines into the team title with 174 points. Easton and Graves were part of a team Big Ten Championship for the first time, while Collisson, Dent and Fitts are part of an exclusive group of Wolverines with two Big Ten Championship rings.
Dent has been a top contributor for U-M's varsity eight, rowing between the fourth and sixth seats during most of the season, but she has stroked the Wolverines' top boat of late and has helped bring the boat into its top form. The Kenora, Ontario, native is Michigan's program record-holder on the erg. She is now a two-time Big Ten gold medalist (2021 2V8).
Collisson has been a presence in U-M's first eight her whole career and has rowed from the fourth and sixth seats this spring. Also an international record-holder (U-23 world championships), the Aussie brought her best this year to help bring the speed out of the Michigan 1V8. Like Dent, she is now a two-time Big Ten gold medalist (2021 2V8).
Easton has been rowing in U-M's 1V8 since the postseason of her freshman year and the Melbourne, Australia, native has been a steady presence in U-M's fifth/seventh seats this spring. Her consistency has been a key to U-M's speed all year. This weekend was Easton's second time medaling with the first eight at the conference regatta (2022, silver).
Hailing from Seattle, Wash., Graves has never competed for U-M in any boat other than its 1V8 -- an immediate contributor. She has rowed in the third, fifth, sixth, and seventh seats this spring and has been a dependable rower in the Wolverines' push into the postseason. Graves also was a silver medalist in her freshman year with the first eight (2022).
A senior from Winter Park, Fla., Fitts has stepped up in a big way this spring, working her way into the 1V8 after spending her first few years in the program in U-M's varsity four boats. By the end of the spring, Fitts would be in position to secure to deliver the third Big Ten gold medal of her career (2021, 3V4; 2022, 2V8). She also delivered the graduation speech at U-M's student-athlete graduation event last month.
The team's sportsmanship honoree is freshman Nicole Manalac.
As automatic qualifiers, the Wolverines will continue preparations for the NCAA Championships, to be held May 26-28 in Pennsauken, N.J. U-M will be in the championship regatta for the 15th consecutive season and the 23rd time overall.
Players Mentioned
