Tayla-May Bentley

Class:
Sophomore
Position:
Port
Height:
5-6
Hometown:
Johannesburg, RSA
High School:
St. Mary's School Waverley

At Michigan
• Member of 2021 Big Ten Championship Team
• World Rowing U23 Medalist (silver, 2019 W2-)
• NCAA Medalist (bronze, 2019 1V8)
• Pocock/CRCA All-American (second team, 2021)
• Two-time All-Big Ten honoree (first team, 2021; second team, 2019)
• Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2017)
• Two-time Big Ten Champion (2019, '21) with the 1V8
• Two-CRCA Scholar-Athlete (2020-21)
• Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2019)
• Four-time Academic All-Big Ten (2018-19-20-21)
• MGoBlue Awards Female Freshman of the Year Nominee (2017)
• Graduated from the College of Literature, Science and The Arts with degrees in Communications and psychology and a minor in entrepreneurship

Fifth-Year (2020-21)
• From the fourth seat, helped the U-M 1V8 beat No. 16 SMU and Louisville (6:22.281), Notre Dame (6:18.550, 2nd), from the second seat beat Clemson (6:27.402) at the Louisville Cardinal Invitational (March 13-14)
• In Columbus (March 27), sat sixth in the 1V8 to defeat Indiana and Iowa (6:41.1) in the morning and beat MSU, finishing second to Ohio State in the afternoon (7:07.49)
• Competed in the 1V8 at the Big Ten vs. ACC Regatta (April 3), rowing in the sixth seat of the 1V8 to place second to No. 10 Duke in 6:49.48 and in the fifth seat while finishing second to No. 3 Virginia in 7:05.47, beating Michigan State twice
• Part of the 1V8 boat (seventh seat) that timed 6:34.52 and came in second to Texas at Belleville Lake (April 10)
• Sat in the seventh seat of the 1V8 that beat No. 20 Syracuse, No. 9 Tennessee, and No. 16 Iowa in 6:34.311 and placed second to Rutgers (+1.589) on the first day of the Big Ten Invitational (April 17)
• On the second day of the Big Ten Invitational (April 18), rowed from the seventh seat in the 1V8 as it second to No. 4 Virginia and beat No. 3 Ohio State in 6:26.502
• Rowed in the seventh seat for the 1V8 as it won a gold medal in 6:25.744 at the Big Ten Championships at Eagle Creek (May 16)
• From the seventh seat, rowed with the 1V8 to finish fourth overall (6:23.437) at the NCAA Championships (May 28-30), helping the team to a fourth-place finish

Senior (2019-20)
• Spring 2020 season canceled due to COVID-19

Junior (2018-19)
• Second team All-Big Ten
• Part of the Big Ten Boat of the Week (April 2) after wins over Harvard-Radcliffe and Yale
• Rowed in the six seat to help the first varsity eight to wins over Harvard-Radcliffe in 6:30.3 and Yale in 6:35.32 at the Big Ten-Ivy League Double Dual (March 29-30)
• Helped the first varsity eight to an ACC sweep of No. 10 Virginia in 6:30.5, and No. 17 Syracuse and Duke in 6:26.5 at the Big Ten-ACC Double Dual (April 6)
• Helped the first varsity eight beat Rutgers in 6:35.11 and suffer its first loss of the year against Ohio State by 0.94 seconds at OSU's Big Ten Double Dual (April 13) while sitting in the six seat
• Sat in the three seat to help the first varsity eight place third against No. 1 Washington and No. 6 Ohio State at Lake Las Vegas (April 20)
• From the second seat, competed as part of the the first varsity eight that defeated Louisville and Michigan State in 6:22.8 on Senior Day at Belleville Lake (May 5)
• Sat in the three-seat for the first varsity eight as it won a gold medal in 6:22.012 at the Big Ten Championships on Devil's Lake (May 19)
• Rowed in the third seat to help the first varsity eight to a bronze medal in 6:08.659 at the NCAA Championships (May 31-June 2), leading to a third-place team finish

Sophomore (2017-18)
• Competed in a four-piece set scrimmage against Eastern Michigan (Sept. 17), recording an 11:03.2 time in the first piece
• At the Head of the Charles (Oct. 22), helped the 1V8 boat to an 11th-place finish in 15:31.401
• Rowed in the 1V8 boat at the Louisville Cardinal Invitational (March 17-18), defeating Wisconsin, Minnesota, Yale and Virginia with times of: 6:10.294, 6:15.009 and 5:57.600
• Earned a second-place finish in the 1V8 boat at Princeton's Class of 1987 Cup Regatta, crossing at 7:00.9 ahead of Brown (+2.4) and behind Princeton (-5.4)
•Rowed as part of the 1V8 boat at Ohio State (March 31), beating Clemson in 6:31.44 (+16.94) and No. 9 Virginia (6:30.14; +.2.24)
• Rowed in the first varsity eight boat at the Big Ten Double Dual (April 7), defeating No. 16 Indiana in 6:26.99 (+1.82) before falling to No. 11 Iowa
• Competed as part of the 1V8 boat in Las Vegas, coming in third place with a 6:10.11 finish against No. 1-ranked Washington (-7.51) and No. 3-ranked Texas (-2.01)
• At the NCAA Championships (May 25-27), rowed in the 2V8 which finished fourth in the country in 6:28.264

Freshman (2016-17)
• Competed in the 1V8 boat that finished in fifth place in 6:44.812 at the NCAA Championships on Sunday (May 28) at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J., helping U-M to a third-place team finish
• Competed in the 1V8 boat that finished in second place in 6:11.194 at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday (May 14) at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, helping U-M to a second-place team finish
• Rowed in the 1V8 boat that helped sweep Louisville with a +14-second win in 6:28.51 on Senior Day at Belleville Lake (April 30)
• Member of Michigan's 1V8 boat that beat Stanford (6:19.0, 6:22.57) but lost to Washington and No. 1 California in the Pac-12 Challenge (April 1-2).
• Rowed in Michigan's 1V8 boat that went undefeated against Harvard and Yale (March 25)
• Rowed on 1V8 crew that clocked in at 6:24.3, 6:29.0, and 6:23.194 in the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational on March 11 and March 12

Prep
• Graduated from St. Mary's Waverley in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa (2015)
• Won gold medals for U18 single, double, and quadruple scull at South African Schools Rowing Championships as a senior
• Received South African Junior National Rowing colours and placed eighth in the Women's Double Scull in stroke seat at Junior World Championships in Rio, Brazil and helped lead St. Mary's School Rowing Club as a captain senior year
• Received South African Junior National Rowing colours and placed eighth in the Women's Double Scull in bow seat at Junior World Championships in Hamburg, Germany as a junior
• Won silver medals for Women's U18 double and quadruple scull at South African Schools Rowing Championships junior year
• As a sophomore, won a silver medal for U16 single scull at South African Schools Rowing Championships
• Won a gold medal for Women's U15 single scull at South African Schools Rowing Championships freshman year