May 29, 2010
Photo Gallery
GOLD RIVER, Calif. – Eighth-ranked Wisconsin women’s rowing put one boat in Sunday’s grand finals, while its remaining two boats will race in petite finals, following day two of the 2010 NCAA Rowing Championships on Saturday. Racing is taking place on Lake Natoma, a dammed portion of the American River.
The Wisconsin varsity four, which took second at the 2009 NCAA Rowing Championships, will get a chance to improve on that result on Sunday after taking third place in one of Saturday’s semifinals and reaching the grand final. UW crossed the 2000-meter finish line in 7:13.95, a miniscule 0.4 seconds back of second-place USC. Virginia blew away the field, winning the semifinal in 7:07.28, just short of six seconds faster than the next fastest varsity four on the day.
“I thought we were a little nervous because we lost to Virginia at Centrals,” said junior Maggie Yale. “We were a little shaky off the start, but we went fast the rest of the way and qualified.”
Head Coach Bebe Bryans added, “They are not the fastest starting crew because they are kind of little. They are not going to overpower anyone, that is for sure, but they are great racers.
“I know they were a little more nervous than usual about where they were, which might have affected them a little bit, but when push came to shove, they pushed. They kept their focus in the boat, and little-by-little took out the crew that was racing them for third and then went for second and almost got it. It was a really good race.”
The Badgers will take on Virginia, USC, California, Washington and Brown in the varsity four national championship race on Sunday.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how fast we can really go,” explained Yale. “We’ll be tested going against the top boats in the nation. I think we are one of the top boats in the nation so it will be fun to see how we stack up everybody else. Really, we just want to row a good race, no matter how we finish.”
Wisconsin’s varsity eight made its NCAA debut in a semifinal, rowing in the second of two semifinals. The boat placed sixth in its race with a time of 6:34.34. Princeton won the semifinal in 6:18.76, while Stanford (6:20.12) and USC (6:24.01) took the other two spots in the grand final. Michigan (6:30.09) and Brown (6:30.80) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, and will see the Badgers again in the petite final.
In the varsity eight petite final on Sunday, UW takes on Michigan State, UCLA, Washington, Michigan and Brown.
The second varsity eight finished one spot outside of making the grand final, placing fourth in the second semifinal with a time of 6:38.09. Stanford took the race in 6:28.94, with Princeton second in 6:33.24 and Michigan a close third in 6:34.40. Washington State (6:41.19) and Ohio State (6:43.71) rounded out the crews in fifth and sixth place, respectively.
The UW second varsity eight will race Washington, Washington State, Michigan State, Yale and Ohio State on Sunday in the petite final.
“The varsity eight and second varsity eight raced hard, but it was a little bit disappointing because they didn’t have their best races,” Bryans stated. “You always hope when the chips are down that you are able to find what’s best in you. The good news is we’ve got another shot at that tomorrow. We are not where we want to be, but we’re still in good position to finish well as a team and that will be our primary focus.”
“Those boats let their attention waver just enough, and that was a chink in their armor. Then it becomes how fast can you get back and how much damage have you done. Allowing that to happen at this level is really the difference. Again, we are not going to overpower anybody out here. We are not, on paper, the most powerful crew in any of our boats, so we’ve got to be better in every other way if we are going to compete and we just weren’t today.”
Wisconsin’s first race tomorrow will be the varsity four grand final at 12:25 p.m. CT. The Badgers’ second varsity eight petite final is slated for 12:55 p.m. CT. Lastly, UW’s varsity eight petite final race goes off at 1:45 p.m. CT.
“Tomorrow it is all about points,” Bryans concluded. “It always is in the finals. There are individual titles involved, but this is a team championship. Our team can’t be top four because our varsity eight is not in the grand final and that race is worth so many points. Our highest finish to date is eighth, but I think we can challenge or better that if everybody races to their potential. I have absolute confidence in these boats being fast enough to compete. If we race the way we can and the way we want to, it can be a great day for us tomorrow.”
Live video of the last day of racing can be found at NCAA.com, while live results are available at jamcotimes.com. You can also follow along at twitter.com/BadgerRowing. Look for a complete wrap up at UWBadgers.com.
2010 NCAA Rowing Championships
Lake Natoma
Gold River, Calif.
May 29, 2010
2000 meters
Varsity Eight
Semifinal 2 (Top three to Sunday Grand Final, rest to Sunday Petite Final)
1. Princeton, 6:18.76; 2. Stanford, 6:20.12; 3. USC, 6:24.01; 4. Michigan, 6:30.09; 5. Brown, 6:30.80; 6. Wisconsin, 6:34.34
UW Lineup – Coxswain Sarah Obernauer, Katy Haver, Grace Latz, Briana Pittman, Lisa Godhardt, Vicky Opitz, Katie Hurtis, Anna Schettle, Ahna Olson
Second Varsity Eight
Semifinal 2 (Top three to Sunday Grand Final, rest to Sunday Petite Final)
1. Stanford, 6:28.94; 2. Princeton, 6:33.24; 3. Michigan, 6:34.40; 4. Wisconsin, 6:38.09; 5. Washington State, 6:41.19; 6. Yale, 6:46.82
UW Lineup – Coxswain Molly Evjen, Sarah Bootsma, Rebekah Foelker, Meryl Chaffee, Bronwyn Knaebe, Caitlin Mueller, Kate Mansfield, Rachel Buchholtz, Vanessa Kleiss
Varsity Four
Semifinal 1 (Top three to Sunday Grand Final, rest to Sunday Petite Final)
1. Virginia, 7:07.28; 2. USC, 7:13.55; 3. Wisconsin, 7:13.95; 4. Princeton, 7:18.11; 5. Michigan, 7:23.00; 6. Clemson, 7:29.68
UW Lineup – Coxswain Jane Roberts, Hayley Leinss, Shannon Schlack, Margaret Yale, Kirsten Morelli
