Wisco Rowers Head to NCAA Central Regional
May 12, 2006 | Women's Rowing
The No. 20 Wisconsin women's openweight rowing program hopes for a strong performance at this weekend's NCAA Central/South Regional on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Racing, hosted by the University of Tennessee, runs Saturday with heats and Sunday with finals.
The Badgers placed third as a team at last year's event, which helped the UW earn its second consecutive NCAA rowing championship berth. Results included a third-place result in the varsity four, fourth-place finish in the varsity eight and a fifth-place performance by the UW second varsity eight. Wisconsin will need a similar finish if it hopes to earn its third straight NCAA bid.
The Badgers have tinkered with their lineups over the course of the last month to find the fastest combinations, including moving a select group of freshmen into some of the varsity boats. One of the recent promotions went to Big Ten Freshman of the Year Sarah Wrenshall, who was moved into the varsity eight from the unbeaten novice eight prior to the Big Ten championships. Other rookies in Theresa Shields and Katie Helmrick have also seen time in the UW's top boat this season.
The field is solid for this year's event with No. 4 Ohio State, No. 6 Michigan, No. 9 Minnesota, No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 14 Michigan State, No. 15 Virginia and No. 20 Wisconsin all taking part. All but Virginia are part of the NCAA Central Region.
Following this weekend's competition, the NCAA selection announcement for the 12-team field takes place Tuesday, May 16 at 2 p.m. CT. This year 's event on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., runs May 26-28. In addition to the 12 teams made up of a varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four, four at-large varsity eights will also be chosen to compete.
