Wolverines Set to Host No. 2-Ranked Texas on Saturday at Belleville Lake

Saturday, April 10

Belleville, Mich.

9:00 AM

Michigan

Texas

(Michigan Photography)

Wolverines Set to Host No. 2-Ranked Texas on Saturday at Belleville Lake

4/8/2021 12:17:00 PM | Rowing

By: Chad Shepard

» The Wolverines will be hosting an official competition on Belleville Lake for the first time since May 2019.
» The Maize and Blue welcome No. 2-ranked Texas, a perennial NCAA contender to town.
» U-M will compete against the Longhorns in four varsity events and will conduct a pair of intersquad races to finish the schedule.
» The event is not open to the public but races will be made available through the program's Instagram story.

THIS WEEK
Saturday, April 10 -- vs. #2 Texas, 9 a.m.
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The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan rowing team hosts its first event on Belleville Lake since the spring of 2019 when it welcomes No. 2 Texas to town as for its first trip to the Ann Arbor area. Racing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

The Wolverines' top boats have had mixed success in the early part of the spring campaign, but there have been plenty of highlights for the program as well. Saturday's matchup with the Longhorns marks an opportunity for another.

In the early going, U-M's 1V8 has picked up wins against No. 10 Indiana, No. 15 Iowa, No. 16 SMU, Michigan State and Louisville (rankings are at the time of competition). The 2V8 also has beaten No. 7 Ohio State and No. 10 Duke. Competitive races and wins against the Longhorns would be a sign of U-M's continued progress during this spring campaign.

With two competition weekends beyond this one before the postseason, the Maize and Blue look to continue building on the progress it has made in the first month back on the water.

In a head-to-head schedule, U-M will race in one session against Texas. Both teams will line up first varsity eight, second varsity eight, and first varsity four boats in the first three events of the morning. U-M will compete a third varsity four along with its second varsity four and Texas', then the Wolverines will have intrasquad races for the final two events.

Michigan is expected to have in excess of 50 athletes competing across nine boats.

The full schedule is below:

9:00 a.m. -- 1V8
9:20 a.m. -- 2V8
9:40 a.m. -- 1V4
10 a.m. -- 2V4/3V4

10:30 a.m. -- 1N4/1N4/2N4/1N8 (Michigan only)

Michigan Lineup

1V8: Charlotte Powers (coxswain), Annika Hoffmann, Tayla-May Bentley, Madison Byrd, Lilia Duncan, Grace Collins, Kate Burns, Noa Sreden, Julia Gehlert

2V8: Darien Moses (coxswain), Delaney Evans, Emma Luniewicz, Ember Larson, Paige Badenhorst, Abigail Dent, Victoria Cooke, Annaka Draaisma, Aubrey Fitts

1V4: Madelyn Ball, Megan Hinkle, Olivia McMullen, Lauren Benitez, Kayla Ehrlich (coxswain)

2V4: Kathryn Ward, Taylor Toudouze, Tara Flaherty, Haven Essien, Alexandra Gabel (coxswain)

3V4: Lara Vanderbilt, Lauren Sickmiller, Ally Eggleton, Hadley Camp, Eliese Hornberger-Rocco (coxswain)

1N4: Isabel Mezei, Elle Caton, Katie Lucken, Brooke Gietzen, Faith Bridgeman (coxswain)

2N4: Olivia Krum, Lily Pence, Julia Casey, Sophia Rallis, Ainslie Evans (coxswain)

3N4: Olivia Olk, Ashley Veldheer, Chloe Pulick, Annika Ehrlacher, Rocky Morabito (coxswain)

1N8: Caitlin Dusenbury (coxswain), Lauren Langley, Kate Kikilo, Kaylin Eighmey, Molly Maloy, Alexandria Reinert, Lauren Nemeh, Grace Haller, Brooke Harrison

Things to Know

• U-M sits at No. 7 in the CRCA/USRowing Coaches' Poll, the second-best ranking of any Big Ten program (Ohio State, No 3).

• Overall, the Big Ten has an impressive seven teams presently ranked in the top 20 nationally, including OSU, U-M, No. 11 Rutgers, No. 12 Indiana, No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 16 Iowa and No. 17 Minnesota.

• Last time on the water, the Wolverines' 1V8 placed second to No. 10 Duke and No. 3 Virginia racing in Columbus. The 2V8 beat Duke, and the fours (1V4, 2V4, 3V4) and novice eights each swept their events, totaling 11 race wins overall.

• After dropping a couple of early races on the first weekend of the season, the 2V8 boat has been progressing well. The boat has won four of five races since, defeating nine of a possible 10 opponents including Ohio State, Duke, Indiana, and Iowa.

• The U-M 1V4 has lost just one race all season, to No. 3 Virginia in March at Louisville's Cardinal Invitational (March 13). The boat avenged that second-place finish by beating UVA last weekend in Columbus.

• The 2V4, 3V4 and 1N8 boats are undefeated this spring.

• After a spring without debuts last year, the Wolverines are making up for it in 2021. Fourteen athletes made varsity debuts through the first two weekends of the season, and that experience will pay off in May when the Big Ten Championships come into play.

Up Next

Sat-Sun., April 17-18 -- at Big Ten Invitational (Cincinnati, Ohio), 8 a.m.