Michigan
NCAA Semifinals
U-M Boats Petite Final-Bound After Day Two at NCAA Championships
5/27/2023 11:11:00 AM | Rowing
Site: Pennsauken, N.J. (Cooper River)
Event: NCAA Championship (Day 2 of 3)
First Varsity Eight Finish: 6:19.119 (4th of 6)
Next U-M Event: May 28 -- at NCAA Championship - Day Three (Pennsauken, N.J.), 9:24 a.m.
• Results | Photo Gallery
PENNSAUKEN, N.J. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan rowing program saw all three of its boats advance to the Petite Finals following Saturday's (May 27) second day of action at the NCAA Championship. The Maize and Blue earned two fourth-place finishes and one fifth-place finish during semifinal action.
Boats that earned a top-three finish in today's A/B semifinals advanced to the Grand Final of their respective events, which determine national placings one through six. The fourth through sixth-place finishers advanced to Petite Finals, which determine national places seven through 12. With U-M advancing to three Petite Finals, the Wolverines have a chance to finish as high as seventh nationally in each event, and a chance for a competitive team score at weekend's end.
Racing conditions were ideal on the Cooper River, as temperatures in the mid-to-upper 60s and sunny skies helped create calm conditions on the water.
In the 1V8 heat, U-M lined up between Virginia and Washington. Stanford led wire-to-wire in the event, and Washington did the best job keeping pace. The two Pac-12 boats had open water on the field by about 750 meters into the race while U-M, Yale, and Virginia battled each other for third place. Around 1,000 meters in, it was Yale that had worked its way into third position, leaving U-M and Virginia in a battle for fourth.
That positioning held up over the latter half of the race. Stanford won the heat in 6:10.993 with Washington about four and a half seconds behind. Yale came in third while U-M battled hard through the finish line and came in fourth, just 1.16 seconds off a top-three finish.
During the 2V8 race, U-M was in lane one with Penn on its inside. The race was very tightly-packed in the early going and it was a few hundred meters before Yale and Stanford lengthened out to separate themselves. They built only a few seats' lead by 750 meters, and the Wolverines pushed past Penn to work into fourth place, but it was by a matter of feet. At 1,000 meters, the leading pair of Stanford and Yale put open water on the field.
Though third-place California worked its way back into second place before the race's end, it had become a race of two packs of three, and Stanford won the event in 6:16.634. U-M was about five seconds behind the second- and third-place finishing boats and avenged its Big Ten silver medal by defeating Ohio State in the heat.
For the 1V4 heat, the Wolverines were again on the outside, this time in lane six with Princeton on their inside. The Tigers were a good boat to keep pace with, as they were the early leaders along with Texas. All boats remained connected through the first several-hundred meters before Texas emerged with a slim lead of a couple of seats with Princeton in second. U-M kept itself in the next pack and was positioned third heading into the halfway point of the race as it tried to hold off Washington and Virginia.
Over the latter half, Washington worked its way past the Wolverines and started threatening Texas for second place. That pushed U-M and Virginia along even faster, and it was a hard-fought race for the third and final qualifying spot. UVA sustained its pace better than the Wolverines, who began to burn out, and Washington, which also saw itself passed by. In the end, it was Virginia taking the third spot behind Texas and Princeton, and the Wolverines finished fifth, more than 11 seconds behind qualifying position.
The Wolverines will be back on Sunday (May 28) for the third and final day of NCAA Championship action. Petite finals begin at 9:24 a.m. for the 1V4. The 2V8 will race at 9:48 and the 1V8 will wrap up the weekend with a 10:12 start.
Results
First Varsity Eight
1. Stanford -- 6:10.993
2. Washington -- 6:14.455
3. Yale -- 6:17.955
4. MICHIGAN -- 6:19.119
5. Virginia -- 6:19.385
6. Brown -- 6:30.941
Second Varsity Eight
1. Stanford -- 6:16.634
2. California -- 6:20.032
3. Yale -- 6:20.346
4. MICHIGAN -- 6:25.934
5. Ohio State -- 6:26.830
6. Pennsylvania -- 6:30.340
First Varsity Four
1. Texas -- 7:07.819
2. Princeton -- 7:09.013
3. Virginia -- 7:10.187
4. Washington -- 7:11.489
5. MICHIGAN -- 7:21.777
6. Duke -- 7:33.615
Michigan Lineups
1V8: Ainslie Evans (coxswain), Abigail Dent, Katie Easton, Zara Collisson, Sara Houben, Jana Peachey, Gabrielle Graves, Aubrey Fitts, Abby Hathaway
2V8: Logan Roeder (coxswain), Annaka Draaisma, Ariana Shokoohi, Brooke Gietzen, Sarah McKay, Lauren Boydston, Gracie Landefeld, Delaney Evans, Erin Benitez
1V4: Leah Miller, Carla Russell, Kathryn Ward, Anna Muench, Alexandra Gabel (cox)
Players Mentioned
