Wisconsin Preps for Big Ten Championships
April 25, 2007 | Women's Rowing
The University of Wisconsin women's openweight rowers will be in action Saturday, April 28 at Lake Wingra in Madison, Wis. for the 2007 Big Ten Championships. The Badgers are hosting the event for the first time since its inception in 2000.
Saturday's racing will begin at approximately 8:15 a.m. with the second novice eights starting off the day. The prelims will be run from 8:15 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. After an hour break, the finals will begin at approximately 12:15 p.m. The award ceremony is set to begin at 4 p.m.
The event is free and fans are encouraged to support the Badgers and check out some of the Midwest's best rowers. Visit the Big Ten Rowing Championships page on uwbadgers.com for more details on schedules, seeding and live results.
The Badgers are seeded first in two of the five events. Wisconsin, fifth place a year ago at Big Ten rowing, earned the top seed in the second varsity four and the novice eight for this year's event. The Badgers won the novice eight event at the 2006 championships. The Badgers are the fifth seed in the varsity eight and second varsity eight, while the Badgers are seeded fourth in the varsity four.
The following Big Ten schools including Wisconsin will be represented Saturday on Lake Wingra: Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Ohio State. Ohio State won last year's title and is the highest ranked team entering this year's event.
Past Big Ten Results
2006: Ohio State won its second team title with 130 points, while Minnesota finished a close second with 121. Other than Michigan, OSU is the only team to win multiple championships. Wisconsin took fifth, while Sarah Wrenshall (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
2005: Michigan State finished first while Ohio State and Wisconsin rounded off the top three. The Badgers who took third with 106 points, earned their second finish in the top three.
2004: Michigan won the most recent of their four championships, edging Wisconsin and Ohio State. Finishing second with 115 points, the Badgers earned their best finish in Big Ten Championship history.
2003: The Wolverines beat out in-state rival Michigan State with a tie breaker after the two teams were knotted at 123 points. Michigan's varsity eight won their event to earn the tiebreaker and take the team title for the third time in the first four years of the event.
2002: Ohio State won their first team title in East Lansing, Mich., earning 138 points while Michigan and Michigan State placed second and third respectively. Wisconsin finished fourth with 80 points.
2001: Michigan won its second title while on their home course with 56 points as only six events were scored. Wisconsin ended up in fourth after losing a tiebreaker to Michigan State.
2000: Michigan won the inaugural championship held in Madison, edging Michigan State and Ohio State. The Badgers finished fourth on their home course.
The Buckeyes are ranked third in the latest CRCA Poll. Ohio State was off this past weekend, and last competed against Big Ten foes Michigan and Michigan State on April 14. Ohio State won five events, with the varsity eight beating both teams, while the varsity four and second varsity eights both won and lost a race.
The eighth-ranked Minnesota Gophers competed against Kansas this past weekend, sweeping all events. The varsity eight won in a time of 7:01.10, while the fours beat Kansas with a 8:23.25. Of the six races, Minnesota averaged a 26 second advantage in their wins.
The thirteenth-ranked Wolverines last competed against Indiana and Ohio State on April 14. Michigan swept Indiana in the five open events, then went on to beat Ohio State in both the second varsity four and the novice eight.
Michigan State, ranked No. 20, competed against Yale and Radcliffe last Sunday. MSU took first in one race and second in three others. The Spartans second varsity eight won their race in the time of 6:53.4.
Iowa last competed against Wisconsin and Minnesota on April 14. The Iowa openweights got their only win from their second novice eight who beat Minnesota by two seconds, winning in the time of 7:15.65.
The Hoosiers last competed against Michigan and Michigan State on April 14. The Indiana women got their only win from their second varsity four who beat Michigan State with a time of 8:44.57. MSU's A and B boats finished with times of 9:08.77 and 9:32.47 respectively.
This weekend marks the team's final competition before the NCAA Central/South Regional which will take place May 12-13 in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
