Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Wolverines are Runners-Up at Big Ten Championships
5/13/2018 1:03:00 PM | Rowing
» The 1V8 and 2V8 boats were among five second-place finishes for the Wolverines, and U-M finished third in the other two events.
» Michigan boasted four All-Big Ten honorees: Kendall Brewer, Meghan Gutknecht (first team), Kalia Krichko and Flick Cain (second team).
» This year's results mark 12 consecutive seasons with a top-three finish in the conference for U-M.
Site: Indianapolis, Ind. (Eagle Creek Reservoir)
Event: Big Ten Championships
U-M Team Finish: 2nd Place of 8 Teams (163 points)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sun., May 25-27 -- at NCAA Championships (Sarasota, Fla.)
• Results | Big Ten Release
INDIANAPOLIS -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan rowing team earned a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday (May 13), placing runner-up for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Rowing at Eagle Creek Reservoir, the team matched or bested its seed in six of seven races, highlighted by second-place finishes from the first and second varsity eight boats.
Despite a persistent wind, conditions in central Indiana were excellent for spring racing. Temperatures were in the low-to-mid 70s early in the morning, reaching 80 degrees by the end of races. The sun shone through in spots, but mostly battled a spotty cloud cover and winds ranged about 10-14 mph moving west across the water. With the course running almost directly north-south, most all the boats faced similar conditions throughout the day, and teams were happy to have steered clear of the storms that would follow in the area.
Michigan was seeded second in five races (2V8, 1V4, 2V4, 3V4, 2N8), third in one (1V8) and fourth in another (1N8). The team improved on its seeding in the 1V8 with a second-place finish and also eclipsed its seed in the 1N8 race, taking third.
Head coach Mark Rothstein acknowledged that the team fell short of its goals, but noted the positive step that this weekend represents for his team looking ahead to the NCAA Championships later this month.
"The goal is always to win a Big Ten Championship and so when you come up short on that, it's disappointing, and that is where we are at right now," said Rothstein.
"I think the finish reflected the preparation. To win a Big Ten Championship you have to have outstanding preparation and I think Ohio State did a phenomenal job. From that standpoint, it's disappointing to be bested by another team, but there are a lot of positives to take away, particularly because the second varsity eight and first varsity eight raced really well."
"Our preparation the last couple of weeks has been really good, I just think we need to come into April faster than we were. We had a really good last month of the season but we had too far to go to be able to win at this level of competition, and that's all seven boats across the board."
All seven boats came to race today, though, with all seven finding the podium.
The novice eight boats got the positive momentum going early, and the three fours boats kept the streak of top-three finishes alive. Heading into the first and second varsity eight races, U-M was within striking distance -- four points out of the Buckeyes.
In the 2V8 race, the Buckeyes gained an early lead, up about four seats on U-M through 500 meters. Near the 1,250-meter mark, the Wolverines began a big push, but Ohio State responded after Michigan gained a couple of seats back.
Inside 500 meters it was a full sprint, and the Wolverines showed impressive power as they continued to narrow the gap on the Buckeyes, nearly catching them down the stretch, but they simply ran out of water. OSU held on for a win of just over one second with a time of 6:26.642 to Michigan's 6:27.604.
In the 1V8 race, Michigan's start left the team in third place in the early going, about two seats behind top-seeded Iowa while OSU gained a two-seat lead on the Hawkeyes. But U-M quickly overcame its poor start, and near the halfway point of the race, U-M started picking up significant ground on Iowa, erasing its lead and then passing them with about 750 meters to go. Ohio State was up three seats with 500 meters to go, and the Wolverines' late push came up just short as OSU held on to secure the title.
It was not the finish U-M craved, but the composure shown by the crew and coxswain bodes well for the expected close finishes the NCAA Championships will bring. Rothstein credited the whole boat for its ability to stay calm in the face of adversity, especially coxswain Alexis Jones.
Michigan will await official NCAA Selection announcements next week, but will continue its postseason with the NCAA Championships in Sarasota, Florida, at the end of the month (May 25-27).
RESULTS
First Varsity Eight
1. Ohio State -- 6:20.948
2. MICHIGAN -- 6:23.022
3. Iowa -- 6:24.668
4. Wisconsin -- 6:28.900
5. Indiana -- 6:30.742
6. Rutgers -- 6:32.461
7. Michigan State -- 6:35.593
8. Minnesota -- 6:37.772
Second Varsity Eight
1. Ohio State -- 6:26.642
2. MICHIGAN -- 6:27.604
3. Iowa -- 6:30.463
4. Wisconsin -- 6:31.983
5. Indiana -- 6:35.841
6. Minnesota -- 6:39.932
7. Rutgers -- 6:42.329
8. Michigan State -- 6:46.335
First Varsity Four
1. Ohio State -- 7:13.262
2. Minnesota -- 7:22.195
3. MICHIGAN -- 7:24.362
4. Wisconsin -- 7:28.645
5. Indiana -- 7:29.402
6. Michigan State -- 7:33.263
7. Iowa -- 7:33.848
8. Rutgers -- 7:38.264
Second Varsity Four
1. Ohio State -- 7:16.111
2. MICHIGAN -- 7:22.043
3. Indiana -- 7:30.631
4. Wisconsin -- 7:37.574
5. Rutgers -- 7:39.026
6. Iowa -- 7:40.719
7. Minnesota -- 7:45.852
8. Michigan State -- 7:48.630
Third Varsity Four
1. Ohio State -- 7:28.402
2. MICHIGAN -- 7:41.455
3. Michigan State -- 7:50.861
4. Indiana -- 7:57.861
5. Wisconsin -- 8:02.968
6. Iowa -- 8:04.466
7. Minnesota -- 8:10.195
8. Rutgers -- 8:17.931
First Novice Eight
1. Ohio State -- 6:55.738
2. Minnesota -- 6:58.904
3. MICHIGAN -- 7:01.242
4. Michigan State -- 7:01.245
5. Wisconsin -- 7:06.259
6. Rutgers -- 7:12.994
7. Iowa -- 7:24.646
8. Indiana -- 7:27.519
Second Novice Eight
1. Ohio State -- 7:06.832
2. MICHIGAN -- 7:11.670
3. Wisconsin -- 6:19.598
4. Michigan State -- 7:20.458
5. Minnesota -- 7:27.719
6. Rutgers -- 7:30.914
7. Iowa -- 7:43.859
8. Indiana -- 7:47.649
VARSITY LINEUPS
1V8: Alexis Jones (coxswain), Kalia Krichko, Meghan Gutknecht, Victoria Glunt, Kendall Brewer, Kate Burns, Shayla Lamb, Flick Cain, Caroline Hendershot
2V8: Charlotte Powers (coxswain), Annika Hoffmann, Emma Luniewicz, Perry Bower, Kathryn Grotto, Megan Hinkle, Grace Gagliardi, Madison Byrd, Kathleen Peng
1V4: Rachel Fanning, Rae Oleshansky, Anahera Nin, Emily Krebs, Erika Yasuda (coxswain)
2V4: Abby Vare, Madeleine Schneider, Grace Collins, Lilia Duncan Lily Miller (coxswain)
3V4: Haley Zapolski, Allie Stellon, Catherine Olson, Tate Aronstein, Marissa Gabriel (coxswain)
1N8: Fleur De Jong (coxswain), Taylor Toudouze, Audrey Gordon, Paige Badenhorst, Alexandra Walker, Julia Gehlert, Kristen Picard, Noa Sreden, Allyson Eggleton
2N8: Natalie Douglas (coxswain), Felicia Franklin, Madelyn Rycenga, Kendra Sanders, Mariah Newton, Nora Epler, Anneka Allard, Desiree Neveau, Caroline Yeh
Players Mentioned
