Michigan
NCAA Finals
Wolverines Outperform Seeds, Finish 11th at NCAA Championships
5/28/2023 11:39:00 AM | Rowing
Site: Pennsauken, N.J. (Cooper River)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 3 of 3)
First Varsity Eight Finish: 6:33.818 (3rd of 6)
Team Finish: 11th place (78 points)
Next U-M Event: Season Completed
• Complete Results | Photo Gallery
PENNSAUKEN, N.J. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan rowing program had a strong finish to the NCAA Championship regatta on Sunday (May 28), finishing third, sixth, and third across three Petite Final events. That placing led to U-M's individual boats finishing ninth (1V8), 12th (2V8), and ninth (1V4) nationally, and the team earning 11th place overall.
The Wolverines can reflect on a very solid season that saw the team regain its place atop the Big Ten with the program's eighth conference title. At these championships, U-M strengthened its claim as the conference's best as the lone Big Ten program to send all three boats into A/B semifinals, and the league's top-finishing team.
U-M also out-performed its seed in all three events: the 1V8 finished one spot ahead of its No. 10 seeding; the 2V8 finished one spot ahead of its No. 13 seeding, and the 1V4 finished two spots ahead of its No. 11 seeding.
Expectations were kept in check this weekend, but for U-M to have accomplished all this with a relatively young team has head coach Mark Rothstein optimistic that the program will take another step forward a year from now.
"This team has come a long way this year and the future is bright," said Rothstein. "Obviously, we are disappointed with our placement.
"But we will get better. We have just about the whole group coming back, so we have a chance to be in a very different place next year."
Senior Ariana Shokoohi echoed the sentiment.
"This is a great learning opportunity for us," she said. "We might not be feeling the best right now, and we have to use that as motivation. It's going to drive us in our training and preparation to understand that we don't want to feel like this again. We want to feel the glory some of these other teams are feeling today, and I believe we can do that.
"But I am proud of this team," Shokoohi added. "I know everyone put out 100 percent effort and as a senior, I'm proud to see everyone doing that. That's what I love about this team."
With races starting a little later than the prior two days, temperatures were up (mid-60s) by the time U-M crews took the water, and drifted into the 70s by races' end, but waters were calm.
The varsity four rowed out of lane two between SMU and California to start off the morning. California was the early leader and took aim at a wire-to-wire win, but they did not break away fully from any boats and U-M, Washington, and Duke were among those chasing at the first 500 meters.
The Wolverines challenged as the boats approached the 1,000-meter mark, and Washington and Duke made similar moves. The Blue Devils pushed past U-M and Washington and overtook second place for a moment, but it did not last. U-M and Washington re-emerged and were separated by only feet. Stroke for stroke, the boats battled across the final 750. In the end, California held its lead and won in 7:20.821. U-W crossed .594 seconds ahead of the Wolverines and U-M finished third in the heat, ninth in the nation.
In the second eight, U-M rowed out of lane three between Virginia and Brown. Brown leaned into its trademark high stroke rate and led early while Virginia helped push the chase pack. Ohio State also emerged as boats passed the halfway point of the race.
OSU overtook UVA and started to challenge for the race lead. Brown held off the Buckeyes as they made another move near the final 500, and Penn and Virginia did battle for third and fourth place. The Wolverines had fallen back with SMU by this point of the race, and Brown held on for the win, while the Buckeyes held off a charging Penn for second place in the race. The Wolverines crossed sixth in 6:45.733.
Racing out of lane four between Syracuse and SMU, U-M's 1V8 was in a fast and competitive race. Everything was tightly packed and the race was six-wide early. Near 500 meters, Syracuse emerged by only a couple of seats before SMU's aggressive rate took the Ponies into first place with Brown also giving chase. U-M was narrowly behind SMU but kept contact with the leaders, and Virginia also began to push into the lead pack.
Past 1,200 meters, the Wolverines made a move and it paid off as they began to move into Virginia and worked past Brown, which began to fade. The leaders of Syracuse and SMU would prove difficult to catch, but the Maize and Blue showed mettle and strength with their final charge, and it earned them a third-place finish in the race. U-M's time of 6:33.818 was .208 seconds ahead of the Bears from Brown, and .212 seconds ahead of the Cavaliers.
Results
Team Results
1. Stanford -- 129 points
2. Washington -- 120
3. Princeton -- 113
4. Texas -- 110
5. Yale -- 110
6. Penn -- 92
7. Brown -- 91
8. California -- 89
9. SMU -- 85
10. Virginia -- 80
11. MICHIGAN -- 78
First Varsity Eight
1. SMU -- 6:29.600
2. Syracuse -- 6:31.376
3. MICHIGAN -- 6:33.818
4. Brown -- 6:34.026
5. Virginia -- 6:34.030
6. California -- 6:38.554
Second Varsity Eight
1. Brown -- 6:36.063
2. Ohio State -- 6:37.277
3. Pennsylvania -- 6:37.563
4. Virginia -- 6:41.867
5. SMU -- 6:41.911
6. MICHIGAN -- 6:45.733
First Varsity Four
1. California -- 7:20.821
2. Washington -- 7:23.187
3. MICHIGAN -- 7:23.781
4. SMU -- 7:26.285
5. Duke -- 7:28.979
6. Ohio State -- 7:29.421
Michigan Lineup
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
