Badgers ready and excited for NCAA championship races
May 24, 2012 | Women's Rowing
May 24, 2012
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West Windsor, N.J. -- The Wisconsin women’s rowing team begins its quest for a national championship May 25-27 at the 2012 NCAA Rowing Championships on Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J.
No. 12 Wisconsin was selected to the championship regatta for the fifth-straight season. It also marks the seventh trip to the championships in head coach Bebe Bryans’ eight seasons.
Racing begins Friday with the heats of the three events that determine a national champion. Sixteen teams will race in three heats in the varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four events. Friday’s schedule includes heats and repechages, while the semifinals are Saturday and finals on Sunday.
The top three finishers in each heat advance directly to Saturday’s semifinals, while the bottom two or three crews race in repechages Friday afternoon. With a petite and third final scheduled in addition to the grand final, every crew will race on Sunday.
Wisconsin’s first race on Friday is the varsity eight at 8:30 a.m. CT. The Badgers will race in the third heat against No. 1 California, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 6 Princeton, No. 11 Stanford and No. 16 Notre Dame. UW’s boat is unique in that all eight rowers are walk-ons.
“Being able to race for a national championship is an incredible opportunity for all of us,” junior Hanna Lynch said. “We never expected to have that chance coming into college, so we’re very excited and ready to bring all we have and give it our best shot.”
Wisconsin’s varsity eight consists of coxswain Kendall Schmidt, Jacquelyn Koykkar, Kate Mansfield, Monica Whitehouse, Vanessa Kleiss, Amy Slesar, Katelyn Swanson, Rachel Buchholtz and Hanna Lynch
In the second varsity eight, Wisconsin races in the first heat, where they’ll face California, UCLA, Brown and USC. The heat race is scheduled to start at 8:45 a.m.
The second varsity eight includes coxswain Jane Roberts, Hayley Leinss, Lauren Pietila, Leah Gustafson, Jena Wilder, Cathy Randle, Caitlin Mueller, Sophie Heywood, Katherine Hanes
The varsity four marks the final race in the morning for Wisconsin, where they’ll race in the third heat at 10 a.m. The Badgers’ opponents will be Ohio State, Yale, Notre Dame, Brown and USC.
Racing in Wisconsin’s four are coxswain Claire Chandler, Kaitlin Dunn, Charlotte Keleske, Shannon Hoffman and Carly Orwin.
After a break, racing resumes at 3:30 p.m. Friday with the repechages. A crew with a top-two finish in the repechages advances to Saturday’s semifinals, while the remaining crews will race in Sunday’s third final.
Saturday’s schedule includes two semifinal races in each event, beginning at 8 a.m. CT. Sunday’s finals begin at 8:50 a.m. with the third, petite and grand finals in the fours. The 2012 NCAA Rowing Championships close with the varsity eight grand final race at 12:05 p.m., followed by an awards ceremony.
Live results and updates from Lake Mercer will be available on Twitter at @BadgerRowing, and on the Wisconsin Women’s Rowing page on Facebook. Live video of the NCAA Championships will be streamed live on NCAA.com/LiveEvents.
