Wisconsin Women's Rowing Completes Day One at NCAAs
May 27, 2005 | Women's Rowing
Wisconsin will race in Saturday repechage heats with a chance to make the grand finals in the second varsity eight and varsity four, while its varsity eight will finish anywhere from 13th to 16th after completing the first day of the 2005 NCAA Division I Rowing Championships, Friday at CSUS Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma.
The Badgers were dropped from the five other boats in their varsity eight heat from the start and failed to make up the ground. While No. 2 Yale got through the first 500 meters in 1:33.04, and Tennessee reached the 500-meter mark in fifth place in 1:36.67, Wisconsin trailed nearly 2.5 seconds behind the Volunteers, reaching the first split in 1:39.14. Wisconsin pulled hard over the next 500 meters and finished the second installment in 1:37.72, but despite pulling within .33 seconds of Tennessee, would get no closer to the top five. The Volunteers posted the fastest third 500 of any boat and pulled past USC into fourth, while the Badgers closed slightly on the Trojans over the third and fourth 500s, but finished the 2,000-meter course in 6:33.61 and in sixth place in the heat. Yale won the heat in 6:22.06, followed closely by Virginia, which timed a 6:22.83. Brown took third to earn the third and final semifinal spot from Heat 1 with a 6:23.50. Tennessee was fourth in 6:27.03, with USC fifth in 6:30.22.
Wisconsin got a better start in the afternoon repechage, but ended with a similar sixth-place finish. The Badgers got off the line in 1:40.24 to reach 500 meters in fourth out of seven boats. The UW dropped to fifth by 1,000 meters, but posted the third-fastest second 500 meters to inch closer to the top three. Wisconsin slowed to a third 500-meter split of 1:48.48 to fall nearly six seconds out of the top three spots, all of which would advance to the semifinal. A valiant effort over the final stretch of the race was not enough as the Badgers placed sixth in 6:56.23. Michigan (6:47.33), USC (6:48.98) and Tennessee (6:49.14) took the final three spots in Saturday's semifinals. Michigan State placed fourth in the repechage, but will race on Saturday in the race for 13th-16th with fifth-place UCLA, Wisconsin and seventh-place Syracuse. With the result, Wisconsin fails to make the semifinal round of the varsity eight for the third time in three NCAA trips. The Badgers took 16th last year and 13th in 1999. The UW varsity eight will complete its season Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.
The second varsity eight went similarly to the varsity eight, with the Badgers falling to sixth by the first split at 500 meters. The Badgers posted a 1:40.57 split, about 1.1 seconds behind Michigan for fifth place. California jumped out to an early lead with a 1:35.07 at the first split. Ohio State, USC and Harvard also all reached 500 meters before the UW. Wisconsin posted the slowest split at 1,000, 1,500 and the finish line to place sixth in the heat in 6:57.78. California won the heat in 6:39.55, with Ohio State second in 6:44.87. Only heat-winner California advances out of the heat to the second varsity eight grand final, while the remaining crews looks for one of the final four spots in the repechage heats on Saturday.
Like it has in each previous visit to the NCAA Rowing Championships, the UW varsity four highlighted the UW results on the first day of racing. The Badger varsity four finished third in heat 2, but still fell into Saturday's repechage as only each varsity four heat winner advances to the grand final. Washington won the heat to advance.
Unlike the varsity eight and second varsity eight races, Wisconsin got off to a fast start in the varsity four. The Badgers clocked a 1:46.55 to reach the 500-meter mark behind only Washington. Wisconsin continued its fast pace, putting up the second-fastest second 500 meters and the third-fastest third 500 meters to maintain its hold on second. Over the final 500, however, California moved up from fourth past Wisconsin with the quickest last 500. The Bears' time was over two seconds faster than the rest of the field during the home stretch. The move gave the Bears second in the heat by .6 seconds. Washington won the heat in 7:25.22, with California second in 7:26.98 and the Badgers third in 7:27.58. USC, Ohio State and Michigan State rounded out places four through six.
Racing for the Badgers resumes on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. CT with the varsity four repechage. The second varsity eight repechage begins at noon CT, while the varsity eight 13th-16th place race is set for 1 p.m. CT.
