Varsity four posts school-best finish at NCAAs
May 31, 2009 | Women's Rowing
The Wisconsin varsity four made school history at the 2009 NCAA Rowing Championships on Sunday at the Cooper River. Rowing in the school's fourth NCAA grand final in any boat, the Badgers claimed second place to gain the highest NCAA finish for a Wisconsin crew.
The Badgers started steady over the first 500 meters, but hit the mark in fifth place, exactly three seconds behind leader and eventual champion Clemson.
'I was in the boat trying to row as fast as I could,' said sophomore Kirsten Morelli. 'I try not to worry about where other people are. I could kind of tell we were down off the start, but we just relaxed, settled into it and made our way back through the field.'
The Badgers made their way through the field quickly and used the fastest second 500 of the field to jump up into second place and to begin closing the gap on the Tigers. The Badgers kept things going in the third 500, closing to just over two seconds back of Clemson. In the final 500, Wisconsin continued to close, getting within 1.76 seconds of the Tigers, but the early lead was too much to overcome. The Badgers finished in 7:28.54, while NCAA champion in the varsity four Clemson won in 7:26.28.
'It was a great race for them,' said head coach Bebe Bryans. 'They did exactly what they wanted to do. They had a little trouble off the line, but it didn 't shake them at all. They just did what they were supposed to do which showed that strength and composure can prevail. Good technique, too.
'I think Kevin Luecke, their on-the-water coach for the most part, deserves a lot of credit. He was able to help them go with the flow and not be intimidated and bring out their fiercest self. I think they are fired up already to come back next year and have that happen across the board.'
Wisconsin's history making varsity four included junior coxswain Molly Evjen (Portland, Ore.), senior Brittany Rapp (Glenview, Ill.), Briana Pittman (Pittsburgh), Bronwyn Knaebe (Madison, Wis.) and sophomore Kirsten Morelli (Arlington Heights, Ill.).
'There are so many great people who have rowed here, so to be able to say you finished the highest out of anybody who has ever been here is really an accomplishment, ' added Morelli. 'It is a testament to how hard everybody has worked as a team. It is not just us, it is everybody.
'I think we've gotten faster. We've had a lot of different people in the boat, but everyone has been working really hard and I think it showed today. Everybody wants the boat to go fast. We had a lot of people here, the spares, everybody, that helped us a lot too.'
Finishing out the finals of the varsity four were third-place Yale (7:30.81), fourth-place California (7:32.01), fifth-place Stanford (7:32.29) and sixth-place Virginia (7:34.26).
The UW second varsity eight had a solid Sunday, as well, winning the Third Level Final by nearly four seconds over Oregon State. The Badgers clocked 6:44.96 to take the four-team final. The Beavers were second in 6:48.79. Harvard (6:51.00) in third place, and Dartmouth (6:57.69) in fourth place, rounded out the race.
'The second varsity had by far the best race of the season,' Bryans said. 'They put all the pieces together and had a really great row. Especially for the seniors in the boat, it is nice to finish that way. For the underclassmen, they now know that they can raise their expectations. They were psyched to finish not only with a great piece, but a win in that race.'
Wisconsin's varsity eight also took part in a Third Level Final, but after holding third place through 1500 meters, the Badgers dropped to fourth place. Harvard took the event in 6:24.90, with the Badgers racing to a 6:31.90, exactly seven seconds back. Dartmouth (6:27.16) and Oregon State (6:28.27) finished second and third, respectively.
'The varsity felt they had the best piece they could put together,' analyzed Bryans. 'The competition here is just so incredibly fast at all levels, but especially in the varsity eight. They were extraordinarily disappointed in where they finished, but they were proud of their effort. That is all you can ask for.'
As a team, the Badgers finished with 26 points and placed 13th out of the 16 schools at the championships. There are 87 crews in NCAA Division I women's rowing. Stanford, coached by former Wisconsin coxswain Yasmin Farooq, won the team title with help from a victory in the varsity eight. The Cardinal scored 88 points to edge second-place California (85 points) and third-place Yale (85 points). California earned second place with a higher finish in the varsity eight.
'This is by far the most competitive national championships I've ever been to, and I've been to all of them,' Bryans continued. 'Women 's collegiate rowing has just taken a huge step. The closeness and the speed of all the racing across the board was pretty phenomenal. We made the jump too, but we didn 't make a big enough one. We are committed not only to staying with the pack, but we want to take that big jump next year.
'Overall, we did here what we came to do. We gave our best effort. We prepared as well as we could. We did what we could do and came away with the highest finish we 've ever had at an NCAA championships, so that is a great finish and also a great building block for next year.'
To see an automated photo gallery of the best of the 2009 NCAA Rowing Championships, click galleryID=405"> --> here .
