Wolverines Earn Berth into 2010 NCAA Championships
5/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
May 18, 2010
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 13 ranked University of Michigan women's rowing team has received a bid to compete at the 2010 NCAA Championships on Tuesday evening (May 18). The Wolverines will be making their 11th appearance at the national championship in the program's 14-year history. This year's events will be held Friday, May 28, through Sunday, May 30, on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif.
"We're really excited to qualify for the National Championship," said U-M head coach Mark Rothstein. "We're very excited to race against the best crews in the country and see where we stack up. We've already started our preparation and it is my expectation that we'll have great preparation and we'll race our best at NCAAs."
The NCAA Championships are divided up among Division I, Division II and Division III institutes. In Division I, 16 teams are awarded team bids, which include a first varsity eight, second varsity eight and a first varsity four. The three boats from each school will compete for individual national titles and will earn points towards the team title.
Other teams earning a bid to this year's national championship include: California, Southern California, Michigan State, Washington, Washington State, Yale, Stanford, Brown, Wisconsin, Virginia, Princeton, UCLA, Clemson, Tennessee and Ohio State.
Michigan is one of four Big Ten schools to earn a bid to the national championships. The Pac-10 Conference leads the way with five teams competing in the championship.
Michigan is looking for its first national title. In 2001, U-M's second varsity eight won an individual boat title, helping the squad to a runner-up team finish. In 2003, the first varsity eight took home a silver medal en route to leading the Maize and Blue to a fourth-place team standing. Michigan's other national finishes include fifth place in 1998, 1999 and 2000, eighth place in 2002 and 2005 and a ninth place finish last season.
The Wolverines enter the NCAA Championships after a fourth-place showing at the Central/South Region Sprints (May 15-16) held in Oak Ridge, Tenn. U-M's first varsity eight earned fourth place in the grand final, while the second varsity eight and first varsity four took fourth and fifth place, respectively. At the Big Ten Championships on May 1, U-M finished third place as a team.
The NCAA Championships will be held May 28-30 on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif., with Washington State serving as host. For ticket information, call the Washington State ticket office at 1-800-GO-COUGS or order online.
Contact: Jessica Poole (734) 763-4423
