Michigan
NCAA Championships
Wolverines Show Out During NCAA Championships Finals
5/31/2026 10:23:00 AM | Rowing
Site: Gainesville, Ga. (Lake Lanier)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 3 of 3)
First Varsity Eight Finish: 5:59.456 (1st of 6; 13th overall)
U-M Result 12th of 22 (69 points)Â
Next U-M Event: Season Completed
GAINESVILLE, Ga. -- The No. 15-ranked University of Michigan rowing program wrapped its 2026 NCAA Championships regatta with three outstanding results on Sunday (May 31) at Lake Lanier Olympic Park. All three Maize and Blue boats finished top two in their final events, including a C Final victory from the 1V8.
Overall, the Wolverines ended the weekend with each boat class earning a final placing that outperformed its original seeding: 13th (1V8, seeded 17th), eighth (2V8, seeded 13th) and 14th (1V4, seeded 15th), resulting in a 12th-place team finish with 69 points.
Temperatures were in the mid-60s for morning races, with overcast skies. Winds were in a cross-tail pattern, hovered around 13 miles per hour and increased as the morning wore on. Following multiple weather-related schedule adjustments throughout the weekend, finals conditions allowed for fast times up and down the schedule.
Michigan ended its morning with the second varsity eight Petite Final and rowed out of lane six, adjacent to California. Washington jumped out to an early lead, with U-M and Brown close behind, but the Wolverines continued to eat into the Huskies' lead and worked firmly into second place as the boats approached 750 meters. UW put a move on near 1,250 meters, but Michigan countered quickly and worked to push its Big Ten rival, all the while closing the gap between the two crews.
The Huskies responded again to U-M's pressure as the boats moved to the sprint and regained their lead over Michigan by a couple of seats. Cal, which used U-M's early speed to hang onto the leaders, pushed into the Wolverines to challenge for second place in the final 250 meters. U-M used all its remaining speed to hang on to that second-place positioning (eighth overall) and retained it with a final time of 6:05.598 (+2.240).
The Maize and Blue 1V8 raced out of lane three in the C Final, between UCF and Columbia, and positioned itself among the leaders with Miami and UCF. U-M rowed 1:28 through the first 500 meters to surge into the lead, demonstrating the course's fast conditions. Columbia rowed into second place and cut U-M's lead down to a few seats, while the Golden Knights continued to charge with Miami.
U-M kept its lead, but the chase pack grew more tightly packed through the halfway point of the race. Columbia pulled ahead and was on Michigan's bow entering the sprint, but the Wolverines pushed to separate further and held on for an exciting C Final victory. The Maize and Blue threw down a sub-six-minute time (5:59.456) to win by over a second in an impressive performance, earning the 1V8 13th place nationally.
The first race of the morning for the Wolverines was the 1V4 C Final, where U-M rowed out of lane four, between Oregon State and UCF. U-M had a strong start, edging out Oregon State for the lead at 500 meters with Ohio State in third. The Wolverines added a couple of seats to their lead near the halfway point of the race, and stretched their overall lead over the remainder of the field.
Into the latter stages of the race, the Beavers mounted their charge and began to close the gap on U-M. The Wolverines countered, but in the final few strokes of the race, Oregon State was cleaner and passed U-M by a bow ball (+.058) with a time of 6:54.037. The second-place finish for Michigan earned the first four a final placing of 14th.
Today's races conclude the 2025-26 season for Michigan Rowing.
RESULTS
Team Results (Final)
1. Texas -- 130 points
2. Stanford -- 125
3. Tennessee -- 119
4. Virginia -- 114
5. Yale -- 103
6. Princeton -- 100
7. Washington -- 100
8. California -- 89
9. Syracuse -- 80
10. Brown -- 77
11. Rutgers -- 75
12. MICHIGAN -- 69
First Varsity Eight (C Final)
1. MICHIGAN -- 5:59.456
2. Columbia -- 6:00.496
3. UCF -- 6:01.870
4. Miami -- 6:02.544
5. Oregon State -- 6:05.314
6. Northeastern -- 6:20.142
Second Varsity Eight (Petite Final)
1. Washington -- 6:03.358
2. MICHIGAN -- 6:05.598
3. California -- 6:07.136
4. Syracuse -- 6;08.640
5. Brown -- 6:08.770
6. Miami -- 6:17.114
First Varsity Four (C Final)
1. Oregon State -- 6:35.095
2. MICHIGAN -- 6:54.037
3. UCF -- 6:59.105
4. Ohio State -- 7:01.899
5. Northeastern -- 7:02.799
6. Boston -- 7:10.677
Michigan Lineups
1V8: Logan Roeder (coxswain), Madeson Scott, Madeleine Lauriault, Deanna Macolino, Jana Peachey, Lucy Hallett, Olivia Carroll, Novella Rusman, Megan Higley
2V8: Isabela Pimentel (coxswain), Sinéad Erasmus, Gretel Ham, Autumn Crowe, Marloes van der Zwart, Danelia Price-Hughes, Zara Bongiorno, Ashley Mitchell, Ayelel Meyen
1V4: Grace Hammis, Avery Rodeheffer, Ansley Vicars, Jenna Chaffin, Talia Daft (coxswain)
