Five things to watch for at the NCAA rowing championships

Photo by: Dawson Powers

Five things to watch for at the NCAA rowing championships

May 24, 2018 | Women's Rowing

Badgers compete at NCAAs for the 11th consecutive time starting Friday

LIVE STREAM: Friday | Saturday | Sunday || LIVE RESULTS

SARASOTA, Fla. – The No. 11 Wisconsin women's rowing program has been in Florida all week preparing for this weekend's 2018 NCAA Rowing Championships. Racing begins Friday at 8:06 a.m. CT with UW's varsity eight heat and continues throughout the day and through Sunday, when this year's NCAA champions are crowned at Nathan Benderson Park.

Check the live results, watch the streams and follow along on Twitter to follow the Badgers.

Here are five things to know:

1 – TOP-10 LIST: The Badgers are looking to do something they have never done at NCAA rowing – earn three consecutive top-10 team finishes. Wisconsin placed ninth in each of the past two seasons. The only other time UW posted consecutive top-10 results was when the program took seventh and then ninth in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

2 – STEALING SPOTS: Wisconsin's crews are seeded 12th (varsity eight) and 10th (second varsity eight/varsity four) and would love to jump ahead of their seeding and grab one of the top-two semifinal qualifying spots directly out of their Friday morning heats. That was what UW's second varsity eight did last season. They were the No. 9 seed for the heats, then beat out No. 8-seed Yale to skip out on the afternoon repechages. That paid off for the Badgers as the crew eventually advanced to the Grand Final and placed sixth, the highest finish for any UW crew at NCAAs since the varsity four took fifth in 2011.

3 – FAMILIAR COURSE: The Badgers are no strangers to this year's NCAA course. Despite it playing host to the NCAA championships for the first time, Wisconsin spent its spring break training at Nathan Benderson Park each of the last three years. The site is well-tested, however, having played host to the 2017 World Rowing Championships last September.

4 – WEATHER CHANNEL: Everyone at the NCAAs will have one eye on the weather as a storm is developing in the Gulf of Mexico. It is Florida, so there are chances of thunderstorms over the weekend anyway. Temperatures are expected to reach the low 80s and include high humidity. For Friday, morning racing looks good, while afternoon weather could affect racing. The times for Friday's race schedule has already been changed.

5 – WHO TO WATCH: While rowing is the ultimate team sport, it takes great individuals, working together, to make a boat go fast. First-team All-Big Ten rower Lexi Siverling, who has experience racing with the U.S. Under-23 Team at the international level, helps power the varsity eight from the seven seat. Second-team All-Big Ten rower Megan Whitehouse will sit right behind Siverling in the six seat. They are also two of the four seniors (coxswain Lily Hansen, Molly Jennerman) who are part of UW's top boat. Juniors Niamh Martin, Alexandra Lohrenz, Alicia Evans and Renee Olley, as well as sophomore and Madison native Elisabet Pietz make up the balance of the crew.

2018 NCAA Championships
May 25-27
Sarasota, Florida
Nathan Benderson Park
2000 meters

******* New times as of May 24 at 3:30 p.m. CT *******
Wisconsin's Friday Schedule (Top two to Saturday A/B Semifinals, rest to afternoon repechages)
Varsity Eight (Friday – Heat 4 – 8:06 a.m. CT)
Texas (Seeded #4), Ohio State (#5), Wisconsin (#12), Brown (#13), UCF (#20), Rhode Island (#21)

UW Lineup – Coxswain Lily Hansen, Elisabet Pietz, Lexi Siverling, Megan Whitehouse, Niamh Martin, Alexandra Lohrenz, Molly Jennerman, Alicia Evans, Renee Olley

Second Varsity Eight (Friday – Heat 2 – 8:22 a.m. CT)
California (#2), Stanford (#7), Wisconsin (#10), Washington State (#15), Gonzaga (#18)
UW Lineup – Coxswain Saylor Martin, Maren Schultz, Morganne Freeman, Callie Hebert, Sarah Gibbons, Cheyenne Brandt, Eliza Clifford, Gabby Simons, Marissa Gibson

Varsity Four (Friday – Heat 2 – 8:54 a.m. CT)
California (#2), Michigan (#7), Wisconsin (#10), Syracuse (#15), UCF (#18)
UW Lineup – Coxswain Emma Smith, Taylor Caudle, Katherine Grose, Jessie Bowden, Elizabeth Clarke

Afternoon Repechages are currently scheduled to begin on Friday at 1:30 p.m. CT.