Women's openweight rowers head to NCAA regionals
May 13, 2010 | Women's Rowing
May 13, 2010
MADISON, Wis. – The 10th-ranked Wisconsin women’s openweight rowers head to Oak Ridge, Tenn., for the Aramark South/Central Region Sprints this weekend, looking to perform well and to secure one of 16 NCAA championship bids. The selections for the 2010 NCAA Rowing Championships are announced on Tuesday, May 18 at 4 p.m. CT at NCAA.com.
The Badgers, who can call themselves Big Ten champions for the first time in school history, look to continue their momentum. Recent history shows the Badgers normally produce some of their best rows of the year during the regional weekend and they will look to do so again.
"We are looking forward to a fun weekend of racing," said head coach Bebe Bryans. "Having finals pretty much done is a huge relief and they are already feeling more rested and ready, even after an 11 hour bus ride!
"There are new teams here that we haven't faced this year, so that will be a good challenge as well as just working on getting more speed out of all of the boats. It should be great!"
This marks the seventh season the Badgers will race in the Melton Hill Lake event, and the team has placed at least fourth each time.
The Badgers have yet to win a regional boat title in any of the three NCAA disciplines – the varsity eight, second varsity eight or varsity four – but come off Big Ten titles in the second varsity eight and varsity four, and a runner-up spot in the varsity eight. Except the 2007 event, UW’s varsity eight has been at least fifth in every competition, while the second varsity eight has finished fourth or better in all but one year. UW’s varsity four owns four top-three finishes.
The Badgers enter the weekend with the top ranked second varsity eight and varsity four in the Central Region, and the second-ranked varsity eight in the region, according to the NCAA’s most recent regional poll from May 5.
Wisconsin has won three regional boat titles, including two by the novice eight and one by the second novice eight in UW’s first appearance in 2004. The second novice eight race has since been discontinued, however UW’s second novice eight will return to action at this year’s event for the Badgers as an entry in the novice eight event.
“Since this is the last race for the novice, both boats want to do extremely well,” said novice coach Megan Cooke. “We are going in ranked first in the A boat and 10th in the B boat. I’d like to have both boats make the A Final, then do as well as they can from there. Last year the A Boat lost to Virginia by .03 of a second. Obviously that is on their minds and they are going after them. Virginia’s novice eight is ranked number two, so it looks like it might be another showdown.”
“We are the only program to have two eights racing in the novice event. Traditionally, Wisconsin only takes one eight, but since our second novice eight has been performing so well this year, we decided to take them and see how far they could go. Both boats are rowing well, but will have to put together great races to do well this weekend.”
Among the crews in the Badgers will be competing against in the Central and South region are No. 3 Virginia, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 13 Michigan, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 16 Tennessee and No. 19 Notre Dame. There are 14 schools in the Central Region and another 15 schools as part of the South Region.
There are five NCAA regions for rowing, with at least one crew from each region reaching the NCAA championships. Selection to the NCAA championships is heavily weighted towards late-season performance, so a strong result at the regional event is vital to earn consideration. Other events around the nation this weekend include the Eastern Sprints, where top teams from the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions will compete, and the Pac-10 Championships, which include most of the top rowing teams from the West region.
NOTE: Rowing fans can watch a taped, one-hour broadcast of Wisconsin’s 2010 Big Ten Championship this Sunday, May 16 at 11 a.m. CT in HD on Big Ten Network. Wisconsin won its first Big Ten title on May 1 on Lake Ovid at Michigan State.
