INDIANAPOLIS – The 11th-ranked Wisconsin women's rowing team posted its best Big Ten finish since 2010, taking second behind three-time defending NCAA champion Ohio State on Sunday at the 2016 Big Ten Rowing Championships. The two-day event, compressed into one because of windy conditions on Saturday, took place at Eagle Creek Park.

The Badgers won titles in the novice eight, their first since 2010, as well as the second novice eight, their 13th in 17 years of the Big Ten championships, to total 159 points and grab second place overall as a team. Ohio State earned 174 points to win its fourth consecutive Big Ten title.

All of Wisconsin's boats placed in the top three, including the second-place second varsity eight and varsity four, as well as the third-place varsity eight. Those three boats are the ones that compete at NCAA championships.

"We are really happy with the way the day went today," head coach Bebe Bryans stated. "Every race pretty much went the way we had hoped that it would. Obviously we would have liked to finish higher in a couple of races, but getting on the podium in every race is just indicative of the hard work that we put in this year and the depth we've been able to accumulate."

The day began with the varsity eight race, usually reserved for the last race of the championships, because of the importance of getting in the three NCAA boat races with the windy weather challenges.

Led by first-team all-Big Ten rower Gillian Cooper (Auckland, New Zealand), and second-team all-Big Ten rower Hannah Schwartz (Milwaukee), the varsity eight placed third. Ohio State won the varsity eight in a photo finish over Michigan. The Buckeyes clocked 6:22.722 to edge the Wolverines' time of 6:22.794. The Badgers were third in 6:28.794, comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.

In the remaining two NCAA boat races, the Badgers placed second behind Ohio State.

The second varsity eight clocked 6:30.012 to finish second behind OSU (6:24.430), and just over a second better than third-place Indiana.

In the varsity four, UW reached the 2000-meter mark in 7:14.242 for the second-place finish. Ohio State was first in 7:10.364. The Badgers were nearly 1.7 seconds faster than third-place Michigan.

"The top three boats performed really well," Bryans said. "It was a good learning experience for us and we look ahead to the opportunity to have three more races ahead of us to put all that learning into practice."

Wisconsin's novice boats were lights out, winning both the novice eight and second novice eight races. The novice eight won in 6:45.126 over Michigan (6:47.773), while the second novice eight won by over 10 seconds with a time of 6:47.242. Minnesota was second in 6:58.585.

"I think our freshman eight were dominant today and were just a shining example of the depth and the future of this program," Bryans explained.

"Kudos to Jim Mitchell, our freshman coach. They were undefeated all year. He just did a great job of nurturing them and teaching them and really bringing out the best that everybody had."

Now the Badgers await NCAA selections. The 22-team field for the 2016 NCAA Rowing Championships will be announced on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at NCAA.com. The event takes place May 27-29 on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California.

"To have two weeks of training with school is just a bonus and so we are really excited about hopefully earning the right to represent Wisconsin at the NCAA championships," Bryans stated.

"It was a great day to be a Badger. We are really proud of everybody. The parents were awesome."

"Thanks to the Indianapolis folks, the local organizing committee, for putting on a really good regatta under some challenging circumstances."

2016 Big Ten Championships
Eagle Creek Park
Indianapolis, Ind.
May 15, 2016
2000 meters

Team Scores (NCAA Boats)                                 
1. Ohio State, 174 (144)
2. Wisconsin, 159 (117)
3. Michigan, 154 (111)
4. Indiana, 115 (96)
5. Iowa, 95 (69)
6. Minnesota, 86 (57)
7. Michigan State, 50 (36)
8. Rutgers, 24 (18)

Varsity Eight
1. Ohio State (72), 6:22.722; 2. Michigan (63), 6:22.794; 3. Wisconsin (54), 6:28.109; 4. Indiana (45), 6:35.421; 5. Iowa (36), 6:35.990; 6. Minnesota (27), 6:41.535; 7. Michigan State (18), 6:42.309; 8. Rutgers (9), 6:53.882
UW Lineup - Coxswain Lily Hansen, Maria Schmid, Hannah Schwartz, Anna Knutson, Lexi Siverling, Maddie Wanamaker, Gillian Cooper, Brianna Dahm, Kaitlin McKeogh

Second Varsity Eight
1. Ohio State (48), 6:24.430; 2. Wisconsin (42), 6:30.012; 3. Indiana (36), 6:31.104; 4. Michigan (30), 6:32.988; 5. Iowa (24), 6:40.558; 6. Minnesota (18), 6:44.906; 7. Michigan State (12), 6:56.150; 8. Rutgers (6), 7:04.354
UW Lineup - Coxswain Katherine Condon, Gabby Simons, Dani Steinberg, Sophia Vitas, Megan Whitehouse, Callie Hebert, Margo Grover, Marissa Gibson, Andrea French

Varsity Four
1. Ohio State (24), 7:10.364; 2. Wisconsin (21), 7:14.242; 3. Michigan (18), 7:15.927; 4. Indiana (15), 7:23.720; 5. Minnesota (12), 7:25.492; 6. Iowa (9), 7:33.879; 7. Michigan State (6), 7:41.863; 8. Rutgers (3), 7:57.609
UW Lineup - Coxswain Rosie Brezynski, Maren Schultz, Morganne Freeman, Claire Scott, Monica Gerber

Second Varsity Four
1. Michigan (16), 7:06.826; 2. Ohio State (14), 7:16.572; 3. Wisconsin (12), 7:16.914; 4. Minnesota (10), 7:36.754; 5. Indiana (8), 7:38.285; 6. Iowa (6), 7:43.837; 7. Michigan State (4), 7:57.330; 8. Rutgers (2), 8:09.173
UW Lineup - Coxswain Beth Yudelman, Cheyenne Brandt, Anika Nelson, Lucia Kissinger, Emma Strenski

Novice Eight
1. Wisconsin (16), 6:45.126; 2. Michigan (14), 6:47.773; 3. Minnesota (12), 6:48.428; 4. Iowa (10), 6:48.556; 5. Ohio State (8), 6:56.430; 6. Michigan State (6), 6:57.190; 7. Indiana (4), 7:04.432; 8. Rutgers (2), 7:11.338
UW Lineup - Coxswain Jane Merriman, Alicia Evans, Renee Olley, Alison Morrison, Sarah Roe, Dominica Wardell, Grace Armstrong, Madison Brunett

Second Novice Eight
1. Wisconsin (8), 6:47.242; 2. Minnesota (7), 6:58.585; 3. Michigan (6), 6:59.725; 4. Iowa (5), 7:02.720; 5. Michigan State (4), 7:06.559; 6. Indiana (3), 7:27.218; 7. Rutgers (2), 7:50.413
UW Lineup - Coxswain Saylor Martin, Riley Aschenbrenner, Elise Schedler, Alexandra Lohrenz, Emily Loohauis, Niamh Martin, Eliza Clifford, Lauren Ross, Olivia Mulford

Third Varsity Four
1. Ohio State (8), 7:16.638; 2. Michigan (7), 7:17.114; 3. Wisconsin (6), 7:32.483; 4. Iowa (5), 7:47.735; 5. Indiana (4), 7:54.740
UW Lineup - Coxswain Sophia Noguera, Merritt Denham, Jessie Bowden, Lucy Chadderton, Sarah Lueken