MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin women's rowing team saved its best for last in the final races of the season on Sunday at the 2016 NCAA Rowing Championships, and earned the team its first top-10 finish since 2011 in the process.

The three-day event took place on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California.

"Today was a landmark day for everyone on the Badger rowing team who worked all year to accomplish something bigger than themselves," head coach Bebe Bryans remarked. "Every team member contributed to the racing that took place this weekend.  

"The women on the water today brought their best and had fantastic performances, their best of a strong year - and they are happy and proud to represent Wisconsin at this level."

With all three of their crews racing in Sunday petite finals, the Badgers were in position for a top-10 team finish, and they delivered.

First it was the varsity four, which used the second-fastest final 500 meters in the petite final to climb past Indiana and into fifth place in the race. The Badgers used a 1:48.827 final 500 meters to cross the 2000-meter finish line in 7:22.380. That gave the Badgers 11th overall in the varsity four and 12 team points.

In the second varsity eight, UW did one better, crossing the 2000-meter mark in fourth place in the petite final, good for 10th place overall. UW's time of 6:40.722 was just under a second behind third-place Stanford (6:39.821), while Brown captured the petite final in 6:35.550. UW's finish added 26 points to its team total.

Finally it was the varsity eight's turn and the Badgers clocked 6:26.419 over 2000 meters to take third in the petite final and ninth overall. The ninth-place finish, behind Texas (6:24.496) and Washington (6:25.145), earned the Badgers 42 points in the team competition and got them to a program-best 80 points at an NCAA championships.

"The varsity eight exceeded their seed by finishing ninth and all three boats brought the team back into the top 10 in the country. It was a great day to be a Badger!"

The accomplishments at the 2016 NCAA for the Badgers included the ninth-place varsity eight matching the 2011 boat for the program's best varsity eight finish of all time.

This year also marks the first time in program history that the varsity eight was the highest-placed boat for the Badgers.

Wisconsin's ninth-place team finish gave it the sixth top-10 finish in school history and the first since the 2011 team also placed ninth.

In the team competition, it was California that captured the overall team title with 129 points, edging three-time defending NCAA champion Ohio State, who finished with 126 points.

Ohio State did win the varsity eight national title for the third consecutive year, while California claimed both the second varsity eight and varsity four championships.
 
2016 NCAA Rowing Championships
Lake Natoma
Gold River, Calif.
May 28, 2016
2000 meters

Team Scores
1. California, 129; 2. Ohio State, 126; 3. Virginia, 112; 4. Stanford, 107; 5. Washington, 106; 6. Brown, 102; 7. Princeton, 100; 8. Texas, 98; 9. Wisconsin, 80; 10. Michigan, 75; 11. Yale, 70; 12. Washington State, 62; 13. Syracuse, 58; 14. Southern California, 55; 15. Indiana, 50; 16. Gonzaga, 45; 17. Duke, 45; 18. Northeastern, 35; 19. Navy, 21; 20. Central Florida, 20; 21. Rhode Island, 16; 22. Jacksonville, 6

Varsity Eight
Petite Final (Places 7-12)
1. Texas, 6:24.496; 2. Washington, 6:25.145; 3. Wisconsin, 6:26.419; 4. Southern California, 6:28.487; 5. Michigan, 6:30.546; 6. Syracuse, 6:31.733
UW Lineup – Coxswain Lily Hansen, Maria Schmid, Hannah Schwartz, Anna Knutson, Lexi Siverling, Maddie Wanamaker, Gillian Cooper, Brianna Dahm, Kaitlin McKeogh

Second Varsity Eight
Petite Final (Places 7-12)
1. Brown (32), 6:35.550; 2. Yale (30), 6:37.008; 3. Stanford (28), 6:39.821; 4. Wisconsin (26), 6:40.722; 5. Washington State (24), 6:41.811; 6. Michigan (22), 6:42.600
UW Lineup – Coxswain Katherine Condon, Gabby Simons, Dani Steinberg, Sophia Vitas, Megan Whitehouse, Callie Hebert, Margo Grover, Marissa Gibson, Andrea French

Varsity Four
Petite Final (Places 7-12)
1. Yale (16), 7:15.440; 2. Princeton (15), 7:17.904; 3. Texas (14), 7:17.940; 4. Brown (13), 7:20.518; 5. Wisconsin (12), 7:22.380; 6. Indiana (11), 7:23.400
UW Lineup – Coxswain Rosie Brezynski, Maren Schultz, Morganne Freeman, Claire Scott, Monica Gerber