No. 13 Wisconsin Completes Day I at NCAAs
May 30, 2008 | Women's Rowing
The No. 13 Wisconsin rowing team finished up day one at the 2008 NCAA Rowing Championships on Lake Natoma with the second varsity eight and varsity four still in the running for national titles, while the varsity eight will race in Sunday's third-level final.
On a nearly perfect race day, with mostly flat water, sunny skies and temperatures reaching the mid-70s, Wisconsin's varsity eight produced a pair of fourth-place finishes. Both finishes for the varsity eight were just one spot short of getting the UW to the semifinals for the first time in school history.
In the first heat of the day, Wisconsin placed fourth of six teams and just outside of the group that advanced directly to Saturday's semifinals. Instead, Wisconsin fell into the afternoon repechage
Yale won the heat in 6:25.60, while Michigan State (6:27.25) and Harvard (6:27.56) also advanced. The Badgers, who were among the top three boats until the final 500 meters, finished in 6:29.56. USC (6:33.40) and Ohio State (6:36.01) rounded out the six.
In the afternoon heat, which was the day's most exciting race, USC took the repechage in 6:40.77 in a bunch finish. Washington State rowed to second in a time of 6:41.68, while Michigan grabbed the final semifinal spot with a 6:42.01. The Badgers placed fourth in 6:43.22.
The result remained in doubt until the final strokes as the top four boats finished with a boat length of each other. There was about four seconds between the Badgers and fifth-place Clemson. The Tigers were followed by Ohio State and Tennessee.
'We had a really great race this morning and another great race in the afternoon and it is disappointing to come up short, but I think we gave everything we had, ' said varsity eight junior stroke Theresa Shields. 'I think we have a special boat that can do great things, but it's unfortunate that it came out the way it did. I think that we are all proud of each other. We excelled and we got better throughout the season and we have one more race.'
It has been an incredible turnaround in just over two months for the Badger varsity eight, as Shields explained.
'Going back to Texas in March, we were losing to crews that aren't even here by 10 seconds. Then going to Ohio State, we lost to them by 10 seconds. Here, it just shows how fast we've gotten and used every single day that we had on the water even though there wasn't very many days. We've been able to execute as well as possible and that is showing throughout the regatta.'
In the varsity four, the Badgers grabbed an early lead with a fast start but failed to sustain their pace before finishing fifth in the heat. Only heat winner Washington advances directly to Sunday's Grand Final, so the other five boats will row again on Saturday to get to the championship race.
Washington won the varsity four in 7:31.66. Wisconsin clocked a 7:56.78 over 2000 meters for its fifth-place result.
Like the varsity four, the UW second varsity eight jumped off the line and had nearly a boat-length lead early on, but the field caught up by 1000 meters. In the end, Brown won the heat and advanced directly to Sunday's Grand Final, while the remaining five boats will row again on Saturday for a chance to make the Grand Final. Brown won the heat in 6:44.46, with second-place Washington (6:47.18), third-place Virginia (6:49.22), fourth-place Washington State (6:52.38), fifth-place Wisconsin (6:52.95) and Princeton (7:08.53) rounding out the heat.
Head coach Bebe Bryans summed up the days racing, 'I think we had a pretty strong day. The varsity eight did a great job in both of their races. This morning's race was a real breakthrough for them. We were extremely competitive across the board, especially with teams we've been facing all year. We made huge improvements relative to them.
'I think the varsity four just suffered for some nerves. They had a good first 500, which was a little faster than they are used to and got a little bit of jitters out of the way. The nice thing about the second varsity eight and the varsity four is they get a little bit of a rest and don't go again until tomorrow. They get a chance to think about it a little bit.
'The 2V, the same thing a little bit. The first 1000 was pretty good, but then they lost their focus. The good news is that is not a physical issue, it's a mental issue, so that is something they can definitely pull together so we are excited about tomorrow.'
Wisconsin returns to the water in the second varsity eight on Saturday at 8:45 a.m. PT for the second semifinal. The Badgers will be in lane five and will race Washington, Tennessee, Michigan State and Princeton. The top two boats in the semifinals make Sunday 's Grand Final.
The varsity four races at 9:15 a.m. PT against California, Brown, Ohio State and Harvard.
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