Wisconsin Set for NCAA Rowing Championships
May 27, 2004 | Women's Rowing
The University of Wisconsin makes its second NCAA appearance when the Badger women's openweight rowers launch their boats into the CSUS Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif., Friday. The 2004 NCAA Rowing Championships run Friday-Sunday, May 28-30.
The UW will race early in the competition, with a boat in the second race of the championship. The second heat of the varsity eight begins at 8:15 a.m. PT. The Badgers will race in lane five in their heat, which includes Texas in lane 1, Michigan in lane 2, California in lane 3 and Virginia in lane 4. Wisconsin beat Texas two weeks ago at the Central/South Region NCAA Qualifier, but fell to Michigan and Virginia. California holds the nation's No. 1 ranking in the varsity eight.
The top three boats of the heat advance to the semifinals. The remaining boats race again on Friday in the repechage. There, a boat must finish among the top three to reach Saturday's semifinals.
Ranked as the No. 11 varsity eight in the final Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/USRowing Poll, the Badgers also race their second varsity eight and varsity four on Friday.
At 10 a.m. PT, the Badgers compete in heat one of the second varsity eight. The boats in Wisconsin's heat listed from lane one to lane six include Ohio State, Michigan State, Brown, Virginia, Wisconsin and Michigan.
The Badgers race in the varsity four heats at 11:15 p.m. PT. Wisconsin will race from lane 4, one of the seeded heats. They will battle Harvard in lane one, Ohio State in two, Washington in three, Michigan in lane five and Brown in lane six.
In both the second varsity eight and varsity four, the winner of each heat advances to the final, while the remaining crews race in the repechage. The top two boats in two repechage heats then advance to the final as well. The boats that don't reach the final compete in the race for places 7-12.
Wisconsin's participation in the NCAA championships mark the second time the school reached the national championships since the first NCAA championships in 1997. The UW placed 10th in its previous appearance in 1999, placing sixth in the varsity four, 10th in the second varsity eight and 13th in the varsity eight. Wisconsin appears poised to improve on those results.
Wisconsin boasts a youthful program this season, with up to five sophomores rowing in the varsity eight at one time during the season. Ten sophomores and a pair of first-year rowers made up 12 of Wisconsin's 23 rowers that will compete in the three NCAA boats this weekend.
In addition to Wisconsin, selections to this year's NCAA championships include Big Ten schools Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State from the Central region, Virginia from the South region, Washington, Washington State and California from the West region, Princeton from the Mid-Atlantic region, as well as defending-champion Harvard, Brown and Yale from the New England region. Schools receiving only varsity eight invitations include Notre Dame from the Central, Tennessee and Texas from the South and Southern California from the West.
Sacramento State plays host to this year's event. For more information on the 2004 NCAA Rowing Championships, visit the host Web site . Real-time racing results during the competition will be available at www.jamcotimes.com .
For a complete schedule and tentative Wisconsin line-ups, see below.
