May 29, 2011

Final Results | Photo Gallery 

GOLD RIVER, Calif. -- The varsity eight's best row of the year propelled Wisconsin to a ninth-place team finish at the 2011 NCAA Rowing Championships. Finishing among the top-10 teams in the nation for the second time in as many years, the UW also produced its third top-10 finish in school history.

All racing at the three-day event took place on Lake Natoma.

With the Badgers sitting at 20 points and in 11th place after the second varsity eight, they needed at least a third place finish in the varsity eight petite final to stake claim to ninth place as a team. Wisconsin grabbed the third spot by 500 meters and held it the entire way down the course to do just that. Virginia won the petite final with a strong finish to overtake Yale and seventh overall with a 6:33.24. Yale took eighth overall in 6:33.83. Rounding out places 10-12 were Washington (6:38.06), Washington State (6:42.66) and Michigan (6:42.74).

"That was a great race," said Head Coach Bebe Bryans. "The boat has struggled all year with a little bit of an identity crises, but mostly just building confidence. It is a young crew with only two seniors and there are only two people who have been here before in that boat.

"It could have gone either way and that is what is so exciting about today. In any race, there is always the moment things could go well or go badly and they had that moment and they made the best choice. I'm so proud. It was the best race by far that they've put together and this is the place to do it. I knew we hadn't found our best speed and they did today."

Sophomore coxswain Kendall Schmidt (Greenfield, Wis.) directed the charge, with junior Rachel Buchholtz (East Troy, Wis.), junior Hayley Leinss (West Bend, Wis.), sophomore Jacquelyn Koykkar (Madison, Wis.), senior Lisa Godhardt (Menasha, Wis.), junior Caitlin Mueller (Kohler, Wis.), sophomore Katelyn Swanson (Red Wing, Minn.), senior Anna Schettle (Oshkosh, Wis.) and junior Vanessa Kleiss (Grantsburg, Wis.) rowing the boat to the line.

The varsity eight finish upped Wisconsin's point total to 44 points, tying it with Big Ten-champion Ohio State. However, UW's higher finish in the varsity eight gave the Badgers the tiebreak and put Wisconsin in ninth place.

Wisconsin's lone boat in a grand final, the varsity four, placed fifth, earning the squad 12 points. The Badgers sat in sixth for most of the race, but closed with a strong final 500 meters to overtake Stanford and nearly pick off Washington.  California took the boat title with a 7:09.60 over 2000 meters to complete an undefeated season. Virginia (7:11.39) and Southern California (7:12.73) claimed the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

In an event the Badgers won medals the past two seasons, their 7:17.74 got them fifth place, fractions of a second behind fourth-place Washington's time of 7:17.51. Stanford clocked a 7:18.08 for the sixth spot in the grand final.

The second varsity eight, racing in a seven-boat race due to the resolution of boat-weighing inconsistencies from the first two days, placed seventh in the petite final. Washington claimed the race in 6:35.91 for seventh place overall. The Badgers finished just over eight seconds back for 13th. In between, Michigan State, Princeton, Washington State, Michigan and Yale claimed eighth through 12th place.

"We planned to win those races. We planned to win them all," said Bryans. "It looks like we didn't succeed, but the success came in the fact we got beat by better boats today.

"I'm glad they were a little bit disappointed in their finish because that means they wanted it. Until you get to that point, you're not going to get it. Everybody raced their hearts out today. There was no shame in one stroke that the Badgers took today. We couldn't have asked for more."

Winning its seventh team title was Brown, who placed second in the varsity eight by 0.05 seconds over Stanford. Princeton won the varsity eight, but Brown and Stanford finished tied with 85 points in the team competition. Brown claimed the NCAA title with the varsity eight tiebreak.

"I think everybody raced really well today," Bryans concluded. "We had some mixed results. Honestly, we were here to win all of these races. The results are a little bit disappointing, but no one is disappointed in themselves.

"The competition is fast, and what we've proved is that we are competitive. We still have some work to do to win the championship, but that is why we keep coming - to get better and learn more and to make next year faster."

2011 NCAA Rowing Championships
Lake Natoma
Gold River, Calif.
2000 meters
May 29, 2011

Team Standings
1. Brown, 85
2. Stanford, 85
3. California, 83
4. Princeton, 72
5. USC, 72
6. Virginia, 69
7. Michigan State, 55
8. Washington, 54
9. Wisconsin, 44
10. Ohio State, 44
11. Yale, 42
12. Washington State, 39
13. Michigan, 33
14. Harvard, 17
15. Clemson, 12
16. Dartmouth, 10

Varsity Eight
Petite Final (Places 7-12)
1. Virginia, 6:33.24 (30); 2. Yale, 6:33.83 (27); 3. Wisconsin, 6:37.65 (24); 4. Washington, 6:38.06 (21); 5. Washington State, 6:42.66 (18); 6. Michigan, 6:42.74 (15)

UW Lineup - Coxswain Kendall Schmidt, Rachel Buchholtz, Hayley Leinss, Jacquelyn Koykkar, Lisa Godhardt, Caitlin Mueller, Katelyn Swanson, Anna Schettle, Vanessa Kleiss

Second Varsity Eight
Petite Final (Places 7-13)
1. Washington, 6:35.91 (20); 2. Michigan State, 6:37.28 (18); 3. Princeton, 6:47.43 (16); 4. Washington State, 6:40.57 (14); 5. Michigan, 6:42.28 (12); 6. Yale, 6:43.59 (10); 7. Wisconsin, 6:43.92 (8)

UW Lineup - Coxswain Jane Roberts, Amy Slesar, Lauren Pietila, Kate Mansfield, Margaret Yale, Hanna Lynch, Briana Pittman, Rebekah Foelker, Kirsten Morelli

Varsity Four
Grand Final (Places 1-6)
1. California, 7:09.60 (16); 2. Virginia, 7:11.39 (15); 3. USC, 7:12.73 (14); 4. Washington, 7:17.51 (13); 5. Wisconsin, 7:17.51 (12); 6. Stanford, 7:18.08 (11)  

UW Lineup - Coxswain Clare Chandler, Mollie Kryka, Shannon Hoffman, Shannon Schlack, Katherine Hanes