May 27, 2012

2012 NCAA Rowing Championships Mercer Lake • West Windsor, N.J. Distance: 2 Kilometers

Team Points 1. Virginia 87 2. Michigan 82 3. California 78 4. Princeton 77 5. Ohio State 67 6. USC 66 7. Washington 62 8. UCLA 62 9. Stanford 40 10. Yale 38 11. Wisconsin 34 12. Harvard 32 13. Cornell 31 14. Brown 25 15. Notre Dame 20 16. Michigan State 15  First Varsity Eight: Third Final 1. Wisconsin 6:34.67 2. Michigan State 6:36.10 3. Brown 6:38.32 4. Notre Dame 6:40.33  Second Varsity Eight: Petite Final 1. USC 6:42.97 2. Washington 6:43.26 3. Brown 6:45.41 4. Wisconsin 6:45.81 5. Stanford 6:46.64 6. Yale 6:47.58  Varsity Four: Petite Final 1. UCLA 7:23.89 2. Notre Dame 7:25.35 3. Wisconsin 7:25.57 4. Cornell 7:26.48 5. Harvard 7:27.26 6. Michigan 7:33.75  Wisconsin Women's Rowing Online • @BadgerRowing on Twitter • Wisconsin Women's Rowing on Facebook • U.S. Cellular Text Alerts  |  Mobile UW App • InsideBadgerSports.com

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. -- The Wisconsin women’s rowing team closed the 2012 NCAA Rowing Championship with its strongest performance of the weekend, vaulting it to an 11^th-place team finish on Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J.

After sending its first varsity eight to the third final and second varsity eight and varsity four to petite finals, Wisconsin was aiming to finish the season with its best races of the year. The Badgers met their goals, winning the varsity eight third final while finishing third in the varsity four petite final and fourth in the second varsity eight petite final.

“I’m really proud of the way our team showed up and raced this weekend,” head coach Bebe Bryans said. “We raced really hard all weekend, and I’m most proud of how they raced today. You always want to have the best performance on the last day, and everyone showed up and raced their hearts out.”

A warm, humid morning of racing was interrupted by a rain delay of nearly an hour, as thunder was heard in the distance and rain fell. The large crowd that turned out to see the championship races saw Virginia capture the national title in a weekend full of close competition and strong racing.

“Women’s rowing has taken a huge step forward, and so have we,” Bryans said. “We’re in there, and I’m really proud of how we competed against some very tough competition this weekend.”

In the varsity eight third final, Wisconsin got out to an early lead and never looked back, winning in 6:34.67. A late push by Michigan State made it close, but the Badgers held on for a 1.43-second victory. The win capped a disappointing set of races Friday, where UW failed to make Saturday’s semifinal races.

“They came out today with a mission to find their best race and they did,” Bryans said. “They had a great race after some tough races in the heats, and the competition in the grand final proved that. I couldn’t be more proud.”

The second varsity eight, Wisconsin once again recovered from a slow start to finish fourth in a tight race. The Badgers quickly joined the lead pack after the first 250 meters, putting them in the midst of a close race down the stretch. UW finished in 6:45.81, just .4 seconds behind third-place Brown and less than three seconds behind the winning crew from USC. All five boats finished within five seconds of each other.

“That was some tough racing,” Bryans said. “Their forte has never been getting off the line fast, and that was the way again today, but they got themselves back in it and raced really hard. That was a fantastic race down the stretch.”

The first race of the day for Wisconsin was the varsity four petite final, where the Badgers finished third in 7:25.57. It was the third close race for the UW crew, who finished just .22 seconds behind Notre Dame and 1.68 seconds behind the winner, UCLA.

“We’re a pretty young group, and we haven’t had the chance to have that many close, tight races,” Bryans said. “You learn a lot from that, and they fought hard, raced hard, and we’re really proud of the outcome.”

Wisconsin earned 34 points in the championships. Virginia had 87 points, while Big Ten foe Michigan finished second, just five points behind the Cavaliers. Ohio State finished fifth with 67 points and Michigan State finished 16th with 15 points.


Wisconsin Lineups:

1st Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Kendall Schmidt, Jacquelyn Koykkar, Kate Mansfield, Monica Whitehouse, Vanessa Kleiss,  Amy Slesar, Katelyn Swanson, Rachel Buchholtz, Hanna Lynch

2nd Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Jane Roberts, Hayley Leinss, Lauren Pietila, Leah Gustafson, Jena Wilder, Cathy Randle, Caitlin Mueller, Sophie Heywood, Katherine Hanes

Varsity Four
Coxswain: Clare Chandler, Kaitlin Dunn, Charlotte Keleske, Shannon Hoffman, Carly Orwin