U-M Takes on No. 1 Texas at Belleville Lake

Saturday, April 9

Belleville, Mich.

9:00 AM

Michigan

Texas

2V4 Boat (Michigan Photography)

4/9/2022 11:41:00 AM | Rowing

Photo Gallery

By: Chad Shepard

Site: Belleville, Mich. (Belleville Lake)
Event: #6 Michigan vs. #1 Texas
First Varsity Eight Finish: 2nd of 2 (6:17.4)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., April 15-16 -- at Big Ten Invitational (Sarasota, Fla.)

• Photo Gallery

Belleville, Mich. -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan rowing program did battle with No. 1-ranked Texas on Saturday (April 9) on Belleville Lake, completing four head-to-head races in the first and second varsity eight and varsity four events. The Wolverines collected a win in the first event of the day, the second varsity four race, and showed competitively in the first varsity four and eight races.

Texas came away the victors, but U-M showed a lot of fight and some definite improvement against the defending national champions. Head coach Mark Rothstein felt it was a step in the right direction.

"We have a long way to go," said Rothstein, "but we are improving and showing progress. We can get to where we need to be if we keep going, we just aren't there yet."

The weather was mostly sunny, with light cloud cover across the final two races. Winds were steady but stable in a cross-tail direction, creating a light chop effect on the water.

The 2V4 began the morning with a close finish and the day's first win. Texas opened up early but U-M strung together several productive moves in the second half of the race to draw within two seats during the final 500 meters. Both boats were pushing down the stretch, seemingly trading the lead with each stroke. The U-M 2V4 kept improving on the already-high stroke rate and evened up with the Longhorns, passing them just ahead of the finish line to earn a win by just 0.65 seconds. U-M's 3V4 was also in the event, in the third lane.

Texas led the 1V4 event also, but U-M employed a similar race plan, striking near the halfway point to steal a couple of seats back from the Longhorns. Texas held firm and kept its lead but U-M continued to apply pressure in the third 500. Down the stretch, both boats upped the stroke rate, but U-M ran out of water to overtake UT, crossing 5.03 seconds behind the Longhorns.

Unfortunately, the Wolverine 2V8 boat caught a crab in the last 500 of their race and crossed 11.44 seconds behind Texas' 6:27.5. The boat started clean and long, but was a half-boat behind Texas.

In the 1V8, Texas began with the lead but U-M clawed back to within two seats near the 750-meter mark. Texas stayed long and pulled back ahead at 1,000 meters, putting their coxswain on the U-M bow ball before the final quarter of the race. By the end, it was open water for the Longhorns, pulling across the finish line in 6:09.8. U-M crossed 7.6 seconds behind.

U-M also split most of its novice lineup into five different N4+ boats, racing in two heats against one another. The winning boat in the first head was coxed by Sophie McSpedon and earned a victory of more than 22 seconds. In the second head, the winning boat was coxed by Samantha Perlman and the margin of victory was even larger.

Up Next, U-M will compete in the Big Ten Invitational next Friday and Saturday (April 15-16) in Sarasota, Fla. The event is hosted by the University of Wisconsin and serves as the site for some of the top programs in the country to compete across two days. Additionally, teams will get a midseason look at Nathan Benderson Park, the site of the NCAA Championships (May 27-29) later this spring.

Results

First Varsity Eight
1. Texas -- 6:09.8
2. MICHIGAN -- 6:17.4

Second Varsity Eight
1. Texas -- 6:27.5
2. MICHIGAN -- 6:38.94

First Varsity Four
1. Texas -- 7:09.5
2. MICHIGAN -- 7:13.53

Second Varsity Four
1. MICHIGAN -- 7:07.95
2. Texas -- 7:08.60
3. MICHIGAN (3V4) -- 7:13.99

Novice Four (Heat 1)
1. MICHIGAN (L1) -- 7:15.5
2. MICHIGAN (L2) -- 7:37.9
3. MICHIGAN (L3) -- 7:52.3

Novice Four (Heat 2)
1. MICHIGAN (L1) -- 7:48.6
2. MICHIGAN (L2) -- 8:12.7

Lineups

1V8: Charlotte Powers (coxswain), Jessica Schoonbee, Gabrielle Graves, Grace Collins, Kate Burns, Abigail Dent, Zara Collisson, Ariana Shokoohi, Elena Collier-Hezel