BARABOO, Wis. – On a sunny and 70-degree day at Devil's Lake, the Wisconsin women's openweight rowing program finished the 2024 Big Ten Rowing Championships with a sixth-place team finish on Sunday.

UW's second varsity eight and third varsity four led the way, finishing just out of the medals in fourth place in their respective races, with the third varsity four finishing just over a second behind third-place Indiana.
 

Tight race in the third varsity four... 🚣 pic.twitter.com/T2LTD9MyBh

— Wisconsin Rowing (@BadgerRowing) May 19, 2024

Overall, Michigan captured the team title and the automatic NCAA championships bid with 189 points. The Badgers placed sixth with 70 team points.

In addition, three Badgers were honored by the Big Ten. Senior Nora Byrne earned 2024 First Team All-Big Ten honors, while graduate student Grace Belson earned second-team honors. Junior Macy Mosner was also named UW's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner.
 

CONGRATS to Nora Byrne, Grace Belson, and Macy Mosner for being honored by the @BigTen! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/p2ay7FgKFb

— Wisconsin Rowing (@BadgerRowing) May 19, 2024

Wisconsin hosted the Big Ten rowing championships at Devil's Lake State Park for the first time since 2019. The eight-team Big Ten Championships marks the fourth women's rowing event to take place at Devil's Lake since 2015.

A delayed broadcast of the regatta can be viewed on Big Ten Network on Sunday, May 26, at 9:30 a.m. CT. The broadcast features an all-star group of commentators including former Wisconsin and Michigan State head coach Bebe Bryans, Wisconsin Big Ten champion and U.S. Olympian Grace Latz, as well as former Iowa head coach, world champion, National Rowing Hall of Famer and former Wisconsin rower Mandi Kowal. 

Straight from the shore
Head coach Vicky Opitz
On the Big Ten Championships
"First of all, I think the Big Ten and a lot of the Wisconsin staff that were a part of putting this on did an amazing job. Any time we get a chance to race at Devil's Lake it's a pretty great experience and we had absolutely wonderful conditions to do this race in. So, we're really appreciative for that to go off so smoothly. Thank you to the Wisconsin parents for coming to support their daughters. It was awesome. A super fun and exciting regatta and we're looking forward to next year.

In terms of Wisconsin's performance and how we did as a team, I think we were at the correct rankings for how we did, with some of our boats exceeding those expectations. Overall, very pleased with how we performed at this regatta. There was a lot of leveling up in the last couple of weeks since we raced at the Windermere Cup. That being said, always happy but not satisfied. Definitely looking at it as a step on the ladder toward future building in terms of race mentality and fitness."

On the 2023-24 season
"I think there were a lot of improvements in terms of culture, overall fitness and training, work ethic and race mentality. Honestly, all of the women stepped up. Specifically, I could not have asked for a better, stronger group of seniors that took any challenge we threw at them and were like 'Yes, let's go.' Personally, I could not have asked for a better senior class to begin my coaching journey and we will miss them very much."

2024 Big Ten Championships
Sunday, May 19, 2024
Devil's Lake State Park
Baraboo, Wisconsin
2000 meters

Team Results
1. Michigan, 189 points; 2. Indiana, 144; 3. Rutgers, 137; 4. Ohio State, 121; 5. Minnesota, 87; 6. Wisconsin, 70; 7. Michigan State, 62; 8. Iowa, 54

Varsity Eight
1. Michigan, 6:17.859; 2. Indiana, 6:18.879; 3. 6:20.306; 4. Rutgers, 6:21.029; 5. Minnesota, 6:31.818; 6. Michigan State, 6:33.221; 7. Wisconsin, 6:34.736; 8. Iowa, 6:35.576
UW Lineup - Coxswain Lindsey Meyer, Oona Zilavy, Sophia Ortega, Jordan Morrissey, Nora Byrne, Grace Belson, Olivia Meskan, Georgia Morrow, Tassneem Arafa

Second Varsity Eight
1. Michigan, 6:15.038; 2. Rutgers, 6:19.616; 3. Indiana, 6:22.677; 4. Wisconsin, 6:27.726; 5. Minnesota, 6:33.997; 6. Michigan State, 6:36.510; 7. Ohio State, 6:39.432; 8. Iowa, 6:39.682
Coxswain Carly Banker, Anna Ardito, Sky Teegen, Mara Cassidy, Kira Funk, Anna Mueller, Bella Moore, Kylie Magnus, Lizzy Hanemann

Varsity Four
1. Michigan, 7:00.649; 2. Ohio State, 7:03.416; 3. Rutgers, 7:07.813; 4. Indiana, 7:11.529; 5. Iowa, 7:23.880; 6. Wisconsin, 7:26.972; 7. Michigan State, 7:31.053; 8. Minnesota, 7:32.411
Coxswain Caitlin Cowan, Madison Stack, Sophia Gruenling, Tristen Gallo, Jacki Szelagowski

Second Varsity Four
1. Ohio State, 7:07.616; 2. Michigan, 7:12.120; 3. Indiana, 7:12.361; 4. Rutgers, 7:13.857; 5. Iowa, 7:20.764; 6. Minnesota. 7:27.970; 7. Wisconsin, 7:32.978; 8. Michigan State, 7:41.010
Coxswain Nora Clements, Morgan Jensema, Marian Cracraft, Eva McKinley, Macy Mosner

Third Varsity Four
1. Rutgers, 7:15.358; 2. Michigan, 7:18.949; 3. Ohio State, 7:21.371; 4. Wisconsin, 7:22.430; 5. Iowa, 7:38.360; 6. Indiana, 7:46.655; 7. Michigan State, 7:47.559; 8. Minnesota, 8:02.597
Coxswain Sarah Chan, Jadyn Schensky, Grace Fragakis, Josie Reeve, Josefina Laznickova

Third Varsity Eight/Novice Eight
1. Michigan, 6:42.437; 2. Indiana, 6:45.530; 3. Minnesota, 6:47.488; 4. Rutgers. 6:48.448; 5. Iowa, 6:51.704; 6. Ohio State. 6:51.906; 7. Michigan State, 6:57.042; 8. Wisconsin, 7:00.474
Coxswain Emma Hefner, Aiva Dahlby, Kate Walseth, Sophia Williams, Ava Heinz, Bridget Daab, Celeste Dailey, Kat Bauer, Marley Burgess

Fourth Varsity Eight/Second Novice Eight
1. Michigan, 6:46.798; 2. Iowa, 6:49.510; 3. Ohio State, 6:52.076; 4. Minnesota, 6:55.263; 5. Rutgers, 6:58.500; 6. Michigan State, 7:02.213; 7. Indiana, 8:41.811
Coxswain Kylie Beauchamp, Kate Walsh, Kendall Witt, Aliza Korman, Kylie Silus, Ryleigh O'Donoghue, Avery Walz, Aria Torretta, Olivia Kust