Wisconsin Women's Rowers Named National Scholar-Athletes
May 26, 2004 | Women's Rowing
Five members of the University of Wisconsin women's openweight rowing program have been named 2004 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) National Scholar-Athletes, the organization announced on Wednesday.
The award-winning Badgers are impressive. First team All-Big Ten selection and senior captain Nicole Weir leads the group with a 3.67 grade-point average as a sociology major. Weir rows for the UW's 11th-ranked varsity eight. She is joined by varsity eight coxswain Beth Redfearn. A journalism major, the junior boasts a 3.54 grade-point average.
Maybe the most impressive of the Badger contingent is junior Leah Gordon. A psychology major, Gordon is is one of just three national scholar-athlete recipients with a 4.0 grade-point average. She rows for Wisconsin's varsity four.
Also named to the list were second varsity eight-member and sophomore Kim Ackerbauer, who owns a 3.75 grade-point average as a student in pharmacy and sophomore Meghan Filbrandt, a nursing major with a 3.5 grade-point average. She has rowed in the Badger second varsity four.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must participate in at least 75 percent of the season's races in the varsity boat, must be in at least their second year of participation, their head coach must be a member in good standing of the CRCA and the student-athlete must have a 3.5 cummulative grade-point average through the fall semester.
The Badgers make up five of the 27 student-athletes named from the Central region. In all, 124 Division I student-athletes earned the honor.
Wisconsin makes its first NCAA appearance since 1999 beginning this Friday at CSUS Aquatic Center in Rancho Cordova, Calif. The Friday-Sunday event crowns the 2004 NCAA Rowing Champion.
