Women Row For NCAA Bid
May 16, 2008 | Women's Rowing
Fresh off a second-place finish at the 2008 Big Ten Rowing Championships, the Wisconsin women's rowing team looks to get even faster on the water and earn an NCAA bid at this weekend's 2008 NCAA Central/South Regional. Racing takes place Saturday and Sunday in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Two weeks ago in Ann Arbor, Mich., Wisconsin equaled a program-best with a runner-up finish at the Big Ten championships. The Badgers won three event crowns, including in the second varsity eight, the 'best' boat to win a conference title for the Badgers since the Big Ten began sponsoring rowing in 2000.
Wisconsin hopes to keep that momentum and earn the school's fourth NCAA bid in five years and the third in four years under head coach Bebe Bryans. The Badgers also enter the event with an unranked varsity eight.
'I think we don't mind being underdogs, and we are more ready now than we were at Big Tens, so the only ranking that really matters is the last one,' said Bryans. 'We're just going to go in and sort of keep our heads down and get the work done and be ready to race on Saturday. We'll know a lot more on Sunday afternoon.'
Selection for the 2008 NCAA Rowing Championships, which take place May 30-June 1 in Sacramento, Calif., will be announced on Tuesday, May 20 at 3 p.m. CT. The live Web cast of the selection show will be available at NCAA.com.
The Badgers have made it a habit in recent seasons to perform their best at the end of the season with a string of quality performances at the NCAA regional. The Badgers placed fourth as a team at the 2007 regional, while the 2006 team was second, the 2005 squad was fourth and the 2004 team took third.
This year's competition appears especially stiff, with No. 5 Michigan State, host school and No. 6 Tennessee, No. 9 Virginia, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 13 Michigan, No. 16 Minnesota, No. 17 Clemson and No. 18 Notre Dame all involved in the regional.
Racing begins 8 a.m. CT on Saturday with the open four heats. Finals in the varsity eight, second varsity eight, varsity four, open four and novice eight all run on Sunday.
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