Wisconsin fourth in NCAA Central Regional
May 17, 2009 | Women's Rowing
Wisconsin's 14th-ranked women's openweight rowing program finished fourth at the 2009 NCAA Central Regional regatta held on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The two-day regatta ran Saturday and Sunday and included 22 participating schools. Among all schools taking part in the combined Central/South regional, Wisconsin placed fifth.
'It was a really great team performance today,' said head coach Bebe Bryans. 'I'm really proud of the entire group. From the first race to the last race, everybody really raced their hearts out and put into practice everything that we 've been working on.'
Wisconsin's novice eight had the team's best final result, taking second in the closest race of the weekend. Virginia, the overall team champion, took the novice eight race by just 0.03 seconds. The Cavaliers clocked a 6:27.60, a whisper ahead of the Badgers' time of 6:27.63.
Two Badger boats took fourth place, including the all-important varsity eight. Entering the weekend as the sixth-highest ranked crew, the No. 14 Badgers were right in the mix with a time of 6:08.6 in the grand final. 11th-ranked Virginia took the title in a time of 6:03.2, with No. 6 Michigan second in 6:05.8. Third-ranked Michigan State placed third in 6:07.7. Rounding out the finalists were No. 10 Clemson, fifth in 6:09.2, and No. 8 Ohio State in 6:12.6.
'I think the boat of the day for me was the varsity eight,' reflected Bryans. 'They had three great races - two yesterday and one today - and they really proved a lot of things to themselves and showed that we are a force to be wreckoned with. Their race wasn't enough to get a medal, but we were more than happy with what we got today and we are really looking forward to the next couple of weeks of training and getting faster.'
The second varsity eight also helped the Badgers make their case for a team bid to NCAAs, taking fifth in 6:20.1 in the event's grand final. Virginia took the crown in 6:13.0 to sweep the varsity eight events. Michigan State (6:13.4), Ohio State (6:15.8) and Michigan (6:19.2), also finished ahead of the Badgers. Clemson was sixth in 6:29.0.
The varsity four finished its weekend with success by winning the varsity four petite final to take seventh overall. Wisconsin's petite final winning time of 7:00.9 would have been good enough for fourth place if it had been racing in Sunday's grand final. Instead, the Badgers took seventh ahead of Michigan State's 7:01.6 petite final time.
The UW open four was the second crew to place fourth on the day, timing 7:03.1 in a close grand final that saw Ohio State's 6:59.7 win the event. Clemson (7:01.2) and Michigan (7:01.6) completed the top three spots. First-year program Oklahoma and Virginia 's B entry rounded out the top six.
Bryans concluded, 'I think we did a great job and I'm really proud of them, so hopefully that was enough to continue on. It was truly a great effort on everybody 's part and I think it just shows how strong a team we are and how much we have to look forward to.'
To view Wisconsin's complete results from Sunday, including lineups, see below. To view Saturday's result, sportid=137&storyid=17995"> --> click here .
CORRECTION ---- Now the Badgers await word on a possible team invite to the 2009 NCAA rowing championships, which will be held May 29-31 on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J. For the first time, this year 16 teams will earn bids to the event, that includes racing in the varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four. The last few years included 12 teams and four at-large varsity eights. If the Badgers succeed, it will mark the team's fifth bid in six years and sixth bid all time.
NCAA selections are announced Tuesday at 4 p.m., CT at NCAA.com.
