Michigan
Big Ten Invitational
Wolverines Show Added Speed on Final Day of Big Ten Invitational
4/18/2021 12:06:00 PM | Rowing
» The Wolverines closed the weekend on Lake Harsha with five wins and two second-place finishes in seven races.
» U-M's 1V8 and 2V8 boats were second to No. 4 Virginia, but placed ahead of No. 3 Ohio State in their second head-to-head matchups of the season with the Buckeyes.
» Michigan's fours boats remain a force for the program, totaling a perfect nine race wins over the weekend after the 1V4, 2V4, and 3V4 boats completed a Sunday sweep.
» The Wolverines' top novice boat (1N8) remains undefeated in seven races this spring.
Site: Bethel, Ohio (Lake Harsha)
Event: Big Ten Invitational
First Varsity Eight Finish: 6:26.502 (2nd)
Next U-M Event: May 2 -- vs. Iowa, Louisville (Belleville, Mich.), TBA
BETHEL, Ohio -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan rowing program continued to demonstrate its spring progress across the final session of racing at the Big Ten Invitational on Lake Harsha on Sunday morning (April 18). Racing many of the same programs it expects to see at the NCAA Championships next month, the Wolverines demonstrated the speed they've added in recent weeks across seven events by picking up five victories and posting very close splits for their two runner-up finishes.
Conditions were much better for today's finale a rain-soaked Saturday, and the seven-lane buoyed, 2,000-meter course gave a championship feel to the event. Waters were much calmer though a slight crosswind persisted near the start, and sunny skies made for warmer temperatures by the late morning. The Wolverines capitalized with strong performances during a schedule that featured tight races throughout.
Michigan's 1V8 raced first in a tightly-contested battle with No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Virginia. U-M was in third early on, but did not slip more than four seats behind the leaders. By the midway point of the race the Wolverines had clawed back to even, and they managed to overtake and hold off the Buckeyes over the latter half of the race while UVA kept itself narrowly ahead of the Big Ten boats. Barely a second separated first-place Virginia from U-M (+1.231) and U-M from the third-place Buckeyes (+1.086). The race evened U-M and OSU in the season set of races as well, with both teams having beaten the other once.
The 2V8 race was tightly contested in similar fashion. U-M sat about six seats back of the Cavaliers at the midway point of the race but began to eat into that lead in the third 500 meters. UVA steadied its pace out from but the Wolverines kept them honest and timed 6:39.326 for second place, +3.662 behind Virginia. Ohio State placed third, 2.418 seconds behind U-M.
Michigan's fours are on a tear. All U-M boats dropped races to Texas (April 10), but outside of that weekend, the fours are near-perfect this spring. The 1V4 placed second to Virginia on the opening weekend of the season (March 27), but has beaten the Cavaliers twice since then, along with 17 other opponents. Similarly, the 2V4 and 3V4 boats have only fallen short against Texas in eight races each.
On Sunday, the 1V4 also competed with UVA and OSU, and held off the Cavaliers for the early going of the race. UVA continued to push into the U-M lead but the Wolverines matched every move, and held Virginia off at length, several seats behind. It was a tight finish, but a strong closing effort to the race kept U-M ahead of UVA across the finish line, with the Wolverines timing 7:16.930 for a 1.814-second victory.
After a period without U-M in competition, the Wolverine 2V4 came back strong to close out the last set of races. They nearly led wire-to-wire, putting open water on the field in the first half of the race. The boat posted the best winning margin of any U-M boat in 7:14.086, +10.2 seconds over Virginia with No. 20 Syracuse in third and Ohio State in fourth.
The Orange gave U-M a tougher run in the 3V4 event, hanging with the Wolverines well into the second half of the race. But the Maize and Blue upped the stroke rate over the final 750 meters and put open water on Syracuse by the final quarter of the race to cross the finish line in 7:27.954, +5.144 ahead of the Orange.
The first novice eight boat put its perfect record on the line, and emerged with that record intact. The Wolverine 1N8 has won all seven of its races this spring, and held off the Buckeyes again today (the third time this season), along with Iowa. A time of 6:33.313 gave U-M a win of 3.537 seconds with OSU in second. The 2N8 boat closed the weekend on a high note with a winning time of 6:55.320 over three Big Ten crews. Only Iowa was within open water of the Wolverines, and finished second, 3.223 seconds behind.
The Wolverines have to feel good about their performance in Ohio this weekend. It was a chance to measure up to some of the nation's top boats, and the Maize and Blue fared well overall. The team is back on the water for a Senior Day Regatta at Belleville Lake (May 2), hosting Louisville and Iowa.
Results
First Varsity Eight
1. Virginia -- 6:25.271
2. MICHIGAN -- 6:26.502
3. Ohio State -- 6:27.588
Second Varsity Eight
1. Virginia -- 6:35.664
2. MICHIGAN -- 6:39.326
3. Ohio State -- 6:41.807
First Varsity Four
1. MICHIGAN -- 7:16.930
2. Virginia -- 7:18.744
3. Ohio State -- 7:23.450
Second Varsity Four
1. MICHIGAN -- 7:14.086
2. Virginia -- 7:24.286
3. Syracuse -- 7:26.646
4. Ohio State -- 7:31.835
Third Varsity Four
1. MICHIGAN -- 7:27.954
2. Syracuse -- 7:33.098
3. Ohio State -- 7:45.835
First Novice Eight
1. MICHIGAN -- 6:33.313
2. Ohio State -- 6:36.850
3. Iowa -- 7:08.691
Second Novice Eight
1. MICHIGAN -- 6:55.320
2. Rutgers -- 6:58.543
3. Iowa -- 7:04.391
4. Ohio State -- 7:07.380
Varsity Lineup
1V8: Charlotte Powers (coxswain), Annika Hoffmann, Tayla-May Bentley, Madison Byrd, Lilia Duncan, Grace Collins, Kate Burns, Noa Sreden, Julia Gehlert
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2V8: Darien Moses (coxswain), Delaney Evans, Emma Luniewicz, Lillian Mei, Paige Badenhorst, Annaka Draaisma, Sarah McKay, Ember Larson, Victoria Cooke
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1V4: Kathryn Ward, Madelyn Ball, Tara Flaherty, Taylor Toudouze, Alexandra Gabel (coxswain)
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2V4: Megan Hinkle, Abigail Dent, Aubrey Fitts, Lauren Benitez, Kayla Ehrlich (coxswain)
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3V4: Lauren Sickmiller, Hadley Camp, Ally Eggleton, Olivia McMullen, Ainslie Evans (coxswain)
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1N8: Faith Bridgeman (coxswain), Isabel Mezei, Elle Caton, Katie Lucken, Brooke Gietzen, Olivia Olk, Julia Casey, Chloe Pulick, Olivia Krum
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2N8: Caitlin Dusenbury (coxswain), Lily Pence, Annika Ehrlacher, Sophie Rallis, Ashley Veldheer, Kate Kikilo, Lauren Langley, Grace Haller, Kaylin Eighmey
Players Mentioned
