UW Openweights Head to NCAA Regionals
May 11, 2007 | Women's Rowing
The UW women's openweight crew will be competing at the 2007 NCAA Aramark Central/South Regional Regatta Sat.-Sun., May 12-13. The event will be hosted by the University of Tennessee and will take place on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. This weekend's competition marks the last chance for teams to make their case to the NCAA selection committee for the NCAA Championships.
This year's Regional competition includes 23 teams. Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Murray State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Wisconsin will compete from the Central Region, while Clemson, Duke, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, Southern Methodist, Tennessee, Texas, Central Florida and Virginia are paricipating from the South Region.
The Badgers are currently receiving votes in the latest CRCA/USRowing Poll. Notre Dame, who is currently ranked third, is the highest ranked team in this year's NCAA Central South Regional.
In the 10-year history of the event, Michigan and Virginia have each won four team titles, while Ohio State has won the other two.
The Wisconsin women will be traveling five boats to this year's regatta. The varsity eight, second varsity eight, novice eight, varsity four and open four will all be representing the Badgers. The UW women will begin qualifying heats Saturday morning at approximately 9:10 a.m. CT. After the morning heats, Saturday afternoon will hold the semifinal races leading up to the petite and grand finals on Sunday.
Last year's regional was also held on Melton Hill Lake where the Badger women finished second on their way to their fourth NCAA Championship appearance. Similar to this time last year, the Badgers are coming off a fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. At the 2006 Big Ten Championships, Wisconsin placed fifth and two weeks later surprised the field and captured second place at the NCAA Central/South Regional.
The second-place finish at the regional in 2006 was a program best for the openweights. Along with the regional finish, the women recorded another program best at last year 's NCAA Championship, finishing eighth as a team. This year's NCAA Championships will also be held on Melton Hill Lake, giving this weekend's regional competitors a slight advantage.
Selection for the 2007 NCAA Rowing Championships, scheduled for May 25-27 in Oak Ridge, Tenn., takes place on Tuesday, May 15 at 3 p.m., ET and will be announced on ncaasports.com. Twelve schools will be selected to send a varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four, while four additional schools will be chosen to send just their
varsity eights.
