SAN DIEGO — The No. 11 Wisconsin women's rowing team officially opened the spring season on Saturday, and the Badgers had some strong showings in the preliminary round at the San Diego Crew Classic.

Wisconsin's varsity eight boat, coxed by Maria Schmid, raced to second-place finish in heat A of the Jessop-Whittier Cup preliminary heats, posting a time of 6:27.671. The boat's time was second out of nine teams participating, with Texas finishing about four and a half seconds ahead of the Badger boat.
 
In UW's second race of the day, the varsity four, led by Alison Morrison, put up the fastest time in a field of 13 in the Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup, finishing with a time of 7:17.982. The Badgers advanced to the Grand Final finishing about 16 seconds better than the second-best team in their heat, Washington State.
 
Overall, USC finished in second about three seconds behind UW while Texas trailed by four seconds.
 
"I think we raced very well as a team," head coach Bebe Bryans said. "That was our goal, we had some definite objectives in mind and we were really impressed with all three boats."
 
Wisconsin finished off its strong preliminary showing by racing to a top-finish with its second varsity eight in the Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Cup. Coxed by Gabby Simons in heat C, the Badgers won their heat with a time of 6:34.741. Texas finished with the top-time overall, beating the Badgers by about six seconds heading into the Grand Final tomorrow.

In the Jessop-Whittier Cup final, the Badgers will start in lane 3, facing off against Texas, USC, Washington State, UCLA and British Columbia. The Grand Final will start at 12:16 p.m. CT on Sunday. 
 
In the Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup championship, Wisconsin will once again start in lane 3, matching up with USC, Texas, UCLA, San Diego and Washington State. The final race will begin at 1:56 p.m. CT.
 
Finally, in the Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Cup starting at 11:52 a.m. CT, UW will be in lane 2 alongside UCLA, Texas, USC, Washington State and Tennessee.
 
"We were able to step up and execute many things well," Bryans said. "Just a very, very strong day of racing for us, I think we took some big steps forward and we're looking forward to being able to get out again tomorrow morning."

San Diego Crew Classic
April 1, 2017
Mission Bay
San Diego
2000 meters
 
Women's Collegiate Varsity Jessop-Whittier Cup
Heat A
1. Texas, 6:23.062; 2. Wisconsin, 6:27.671; 3. UCLA, 6:38.209; 4. University of Victoria, 6:41.741; 5. UC Santa Barbara, 6:58.060
 
Heat B
1. USC, 6:28.784; 2. Washington State, 6:34.521; 3. British Columbia, 6:37.319; 4. San Diego, 6:38.375

UW Lineup
Coxswain Lily Hansen, Maria Schmid, Dani Steinberg, Callie Hebert, Lexi Siverling, Maddie Wanamaker, Monica Gerber, Elisabet Pietz, Andrea French 

Women's Collegiate Varsity Four Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup
Heat A
1. Texas, 7:21.958; 2. San Diego, 7:38.272; 3. Tennessee, 7:43.358; 4. UC Santa Barbara, 8:17.747; 5. Santa Clara, 8:53.121
 
Heat B
1. USC, 7:20.704; 2. UCLA, 7:34.987; 3. Sacramento State, 7:55.131; 4. Southern Methodist, 8:07.946; Baja California State, XHB 7:41.870 

Heat C
1. Wisconsin, 7:17.892; 2. Washington State, 7:33.961; 3. SDSU, 7:55.639; 4. Saint Mary's, 8:19.466
 
UW Lineup 
Coxswain Rosie Brezynski, Alison Morrison, Claire Scott, Sarah Gibbons, Marissa Gibson

Women's Second Varsity Eight Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Cup
Heat A
1. Texas, 6:28.991; 2. Tennessee, 6:35.057; 3. San Diego, 6:45.541; 4. Saint Mary's, 6:57.103; 5. Southern Methodist, 7:16.785
 
Heat B
1. UCLA, 6:45.164; 2. USC, 6:47.806; 3. Sacramento State, 6:55.518; 4. Loyola Marymount, 7:02.330; 5. UC Santa Barbara, 7:11.474

Heat C
1. Wisconsin, 6:34.741; 2. Washington State, 6:40.777; 3. British Columbia, 6:52.171; 4. SDSU, 6:52.180; 5. Santa Clara, 7:29.351

UW Lineup
Coxswain Jane Merriman, Sarah Roe, Renee Olley, Megan Whitehouse, Morganne Freeman, Cheyenne Brandt, Eliza Clifford, Gabby Simons, Kaitlin McKeogh