Wisconsin earns eighth consecutive NCAA rowing bid
May 19, 2015 | Women's Rowing
May 19, 2015
MADISON, Wis. --- For the eighth consecutive season and the 11th time in 12 years, the Wisconsin women's rowing program will compete in the NCAA rowing championships. The 22-team field for the 2015 NCAA Rowing Championships, set for May 29-31 on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California, was announced on Tuesday.
"In order to compete at the NCAA, you have to get invited," head coach Bebe Bryans stated. "We are happy to check that off the list.
"We really want to compete and re-establish the Wisconsin legacy. That is something that has been driving this team since September, and before that, really. We are excited to have the opportunity to do that."
Last weekend, the Badgers placed third as a team for the fifth-consecutive season at the Big Ten championships, taking fourth in the varsity eight. At NCAAs, the Badgers will have an intriguing chance at a rematch as its 15th-seeded varsity eight races in a heat that includes all four of the Big Ten schools at the NCAAs, including Ohio State, Michigan and Indiana. The Badgers will also see UCF in the five-team second heat.
Ohio State, winner of three consecutive Big Ten titles, enters the NCAAs as the two-time defending champions.
"The fact that that is a tough road to travel on shows how strong our conference is now," Bryans remarked. "If you are going to compete, it doesn't matter who you are competing against because sooner or later you are going to see everybody if you keep going. We are actually looking forward to it. We did not race up to our capability over the weekend at Big Tens so hopefully having another shot at it right out of the gate will be a bit of redemption for us. Whether we beat those boats or not is less important than whether or not we race the way we are capable".
UW's second varsity eight and varsity four both placed third at Big Tens, earning the boats the 11th and 12th seeds, respectively.
The second varsity eight will compete in heat three against Brown, Ohio State, Princeton, Northeastern and Jacksonville.
Wisconsin's varsity four will race Ohio State, Washington State, Stanford, Northeastern and Jacksonville in heat four.
"For us, we have only been on the water for five weeks -- five, give or take -- so everyday is a chance to get better," Bryans on the team's ability to improve before the championships. "We are looking at lineups, we are looking at hulls, we are looking at things that for various reasons we didn't get to do before Big Tens. Every day is a chance to get faster, and absolutely we expect to get faster."
If the Badgers do get better, it will be in large part due to its large senior class, which has set the tone from the start of the school year.
"We have 17 seniors on this team, and that is sort of remarkable that that many women from that class stuck around for this long," Bryans said. "We've had a history in the past of just stagnating. Seniors they come up into their senior year and have a lot of ideas on what they wanted to do, but once they got into their senior year they just sort of fell into what has always been done. Which is safe and is normal and it was something that we needed to improve and this year's seniors really embraced that even though it was not easy. They embraced the seats they were in, embraced the boats they were in and embraced their teammates and that is what made the difference and I am just so proud of them and I think it was a turning point that I think we've made.
"Time will tell. It might not come to fruition for a couple more years, but they made a huge difference by doing what they did and by not doing things that had been done before. We will remember them for that."
Racing for the 2015 NCAA Rowing Championships will stream live at NCAA.com.
Note: This marks the 12th NCAA appearance for Wisconsin (1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015).
2015 NCAA Rowing Championships
Gold River, Calif.
Lake Natoma
May 29-31, 2015
2000 meters
Heat Schedule (May 29)
Varsity Eight
Heat 2 (seed) -- 11:20 a.m. CT
Ohio State (2), Michigan (7), Indiana (10), Wisconsin (15), UCF (18)
Second Varsity Eight
Heat 3 -- 12:10 p.m. CT
Brown (3), Ohio State (6), Wisconsin (11), Princeton (14), Northeastern (19), Jacksonville (22)
Varsity Four
Heat 4 -- 1 p.m. CT
Ohio State (4), Washington State (5), Wisconsin (12), Stanford (13), Northeastern (20), Jacksonville (21)
Participating Teams
California, Ohio State, Stanford, Brown, Washington, Virginia, Michigan, Yale, Princeton, Indiana, Washington State, Texas, Harvard, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, USC, Gonzaga, UCF, Northeastern, Massachusetts, Navy, Jacksonville
