RESULTS  |  MORNING HEATS   |  AFTERNOON REPECAHGE   

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The 11th-ranked Wisconsin women's rowing team posted one of its best first days in its NCAA championships history as all three of its boats advanced to Saturday's semifinals in racing on Mercer Lake on Friday.

Wisconsin's second varsity eight advanced to the semifinals with a second-place finish in its morning heat.

UW's 16th-seeded varsity eight, its top boat, has already guaranteed itself a top-12 finish by reaching the semifinals after a win in an afternoon repechage.

The varsity four, which entered as UW's top-seeded boat at No. 6, ended up third in its morning heat, before winning its afternoon repechage to advance and stay among the top-12 boats in the event.

"We are off to a really good start," head coach Bebe Bryans said.

VARSITY EIGHT
Wisconsin opened the championships showing it was ready to go with its varsity eight. Starting the Division I portion of the NCAA rowing championships in Heat 1, the No. 16-seeded Badgers opened strong and held second through 500 meters, but saw top-seeded Washington head out to a lead. No. 9 Yale overtook the Badgers near 500 meters and grabbed a boat-length lead, but a sprint over the final 500 meters got the Badgers within a half a length for the second and final semifinal qualifying spot. UW fell just short and into the afternoon repechage, with a second chance to reach the semifinals.

No. 8 Brown and No. 17 UCF finished a distant fourth and fifth in the heat.

"Our goal in the varsity eight was to go out and really relax and work this lineup," Bryans said. "We wanted to establish a good rhythm and if we were in it at the 1000 to keep going, and if we weren't then back off a little bit and start getting ready for the reps. They were in it and they raced very well. They threw down a good time. That was a really good way to start the morning."

In the afternoon, the Badgers jumped out to an early lead, raced to a boat-length lead by 500 meters, and held about that lead the rest of the way to win and take one of the two qualifying spots from the first of two seven-boat repechage heats.

"They just felt really good," Bryans said. "They were nice and relaxed and got up fast and a had a really fast first 500. They were able to hang on and go from there."

SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
The Badgers advanced their second varsity eight directly to Saturday's semifinals with a second-place finish in Heat 2 behind Washington. The top-seeded Huskies won with open water, but the Badgers grabbed a slight edge for second place over Yale early on. The crews alternated leads with each stroke during the third 500 meters, but then the Badgers pulled away over the final 500 meters to reach the 2000-meter finish line for a qualifying spot, just over a second faster than Yale.

"The 2V picked it right up and raced great," Bryans stated. "A nice composed, but scrappy race. They were right there head-to-head with Yale and were able to push their bow out a little bit ahead, especially in the last 500 meters."

VARSITY FOUR
Like the eights, the Badgers jumped out with the top three crews in the varsity four, with Michigan pulling ahead early and Stanford easing ahead of UW. The Badgers stayed in contact for most of the course, but Michigan cleared the field, and Stanford got a little bit of open water on Wisconsin by the finish line to grab to the two direct semifinal qualifying spots.

"The four had by far the worst water of the morning," Bryans said. "The wind came up pretty strong and it was pretty rough out there, but not something we're not used to.

"I think they are a little bit miffed that they didn't handle it better than they did. They had a little bit of a rough go. It wasn't a bad race. It was pretty fast under the conditions, but It think they really planned on taking care of business in that heat and not have to do the rep."

In the afternoon, the four continued the Badgers' fast starts, jumping out to an early lead. Syracuse made up some ground through the middle 1000 meters, but the Badgers pulled away over the final 500 meters to win their second repechage of the day.

"They had a definite plan on how they wanted to row this afternoon," Bryans remarked. "The four was pretty mad about this morning, so they went out this afternoon with a vengeance to row better and to execute better and they did that.

"The conditions were pretty rough. It was a pretty strong tailwind and it got pretty choppy in the middle of the course, but the boats executed really well."

SATURDAY SEMIFINALS 
Wisconsin returns to the water Saturday morning with a chance to advance to the A Finals and be among the top-six crews in each boat.

The Badgers will open at 7:36 a.m. CT in a stacked first semifinal of the varsity eight. UW will face Brown, California, Ohio State, Washington and Texas in a race that features four of the top five seeds and five of the top eight crews in the field. The top-three crews will advance to Sunday's A Final, while the crews outside the top three will race Sunday in the B Final for places 7-12.

The second varsity eight will race in its semifinal 2 at 8:36 a.m. CT against a field that includes Stanford, Virginia, California, Michigan and Princeton.

The varsity four closes out the day in its second semifinal at 9:24 a.m. CT against Texas, California, Ohio State, Stanford and Virginia.

Qualifications for the second varsity eight and varsity four are the same as the varsity eight, with the top three crews advancing to the A Final and the rest to the B Final for places 7-12.

"We've got our work cut out for us tomorrow to get in the A Final in all three races, especially in that varsity eight semi," Bryans concluded. "It is going to be a really fast go and we are excited to be part of it. We are excited to do our best to make history.  
 
"We can feel all the support from all the Badgers around the country. It is great to know we've got a lot of fans out there and we really appreciate that. We work every day to make everybody proud."
 
2017 NCAA Rowing Championships
West Windsor N.J.
Mercer Lake
May 26, 2017
2000 meters

Varsity Eight
Repechage 1 (Top two to Saturday Semifinal, rest to C/D Semifinal)
1. Wisconsin, 6:15.523; 2. Indiana, 6:17.857; 3. Washington State, 6:20.020; 4. Notre Dame, 6:24.543; 5. Central Florida, 6:29.853; 6. Massachusetts, 6:35.877; 7. Jacksonville, 6:49.997

Heat 1 (Top two to Saturday semifinal, rest to afternoon repechage)
1. Washington, 6:08.755; 2. Yale, 6:11.285; 3. Wisconsin, 6:12.398; 4. Brown, 6:21.678; 5. Central Florida, 6:40.505

UW Lineup - Coxswain Lily Hansen, Callie Hebert, Janie French, Maria Schmid, Lexi Siverling, Maddie Wanamaker, Morganne Freeman, Elisabet Pietz, Dani Steinberg
 
Second Varsity Eight
Heat 1 (Top two to Saturday semifinal, rest to afternoon repechage)
1. Washington, 6:14.959; 2. Wisconsin, 6:19.832; 3. Yale, 6:20.882; 4. Gonzaga, 6:30.939; 5. Washington State, 6:32.122

UW Lineup - Coxswain Saylor Martin, Maren Schultz, Renee Olley, Claire Scott, Sarah Gibbons, Cheyenne Brandt, Eliza Clifford, Megan Whitehouse, Monica Gerber
 
Varsity Four
Repechage 2 (Top two to Saturday Semifinal, rest to C/D Semifinal)
1. Wisconsin, 7:07.734; 2. Syracuse, 7:11.040; 3. Notre Dame, 7:12.730; 4. Gonzaga, 7:15.670; 5. Northeastern, 7:15.957; 6. Central Florida, 7:30.224; Jacksonville, 7:59.132

Heat 3 (Top two to Saturday semifinal, rest to afternoon repechage)
1. Michigan, 7:02.466; 2. Stanford, 7:04.644; 3. Wisconsin, 7:08.237; 4. Indiana, 7:30.371; 5. Navy, 7:37.997; 6. Jacksonville, 8:06.944

UW Lineup - Coxswain Rosie Brezynski, Alison Morrison, Gabby Simons, Kaitlin McKeogh, Marissa Gibson