Photo by: Paul Capobianco
Wisconsin selected to 10th consecutive NCAA rowing championships
May 16, 2017 | Women's Rowing
Badgers in elite company with return to championships
MADISON, Wis. – Ten is a nice, round number and the Badgers are now among an elite group of seven schools that will have reached the NCAA rowing championships for at least 10 consecutive years when this year's event begins May 26.
Wisconsin, fresh off a third-place finish at the Big Ten championships, will compete at the 2017 NCAA Rowing Championships on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey. The 22-school event runs May 26-28.
"Awesome," was the reaction from senior First-Team All-Big Ten rower Maria Schmid. "We are super excited that we can go out there and hopefully lay down some good races. It is really exciting that they are taking five teams from the Big Ten. I think we are all really excited to represent the conference and represent Wisconsin."
UW returns to the championships after placing ninth at the 2016 event. Last year's trip included a ninth-place finish in the varsity eight, which matched the program's best result with its top boat. It also included a 10th-place finish for the second varsity eight and 11th-place result for the varsity four.
Joining Wisconsin from the Big Ten will be Big Ten-champion Ohio State, which owns each of the last three varsity eight NCAA titles and team titles in three of the last four seasons. Michigan, in the top-five of the national rankings all season, as well as Indiana and Iowa, will also represent the Big Ten.
The Big Ten led all conferences with five selections, the most for the Conference since the NCAAs began in 1997.
"It is all rowing," junior Callie Hebert said about the task at hand. "Right now we have three practices a day and it is so much nicer than before Big Tens when we had finals and you are staying up late and not eating your best. Now it is 100 percent rowing and great focus going forward."
The Badgers are the No. 16 seed in the varsity eight, which slates them in Heat 1 with top-seeded Washington, Brown, Yale, and Central Florida.
The UW second varsity eight is the nine seed and rows in Heat 1 with top-seeded Washington, Yale, Washington State and Gonzaga.
Finally, Wisconsin's varsity four is its highest seeded crew at No. 6. They will race in Heat 3 of event against No. 3 seed Michigan, as well as Stanford, Indiana, Navy and Jacksonville.
"There was no 'yeah we are in, yeah we met our goal,'" said head coach Bebe Bryans. "Our goal is to compete there. We can check the box of getting invited. We didn't take quite as a direct route as we would have liked, but the body of work was enough.
"I think the theme is just coming together more and more. The thing we talked about today is that we are such a good team off the water, but we haven't been as good a team as we could be when we are on the water.
"We are excited to know for sure, but we have a lot of work to do, and yet we have such a solid base to work from."
Notes: In addition to Wisconsin, Brown, California, Ohio State, Princeton, Virginia and Washington make up the seven programs to have made at least the last 10 consecutive NCAA championships ... Wisconsin is coming off a third-place team finish at the Big Ten championships that saw its second varsity eight and varsity four boats place third, and its varsity eight place fifth.
Wisconsin, fresh off a third-place finish at the Big Ten championships, will compete at the 2017 NCAA Rowing Championships on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey. The 22-school event runs May 26-28.
"Awesome," was the reaction from senior First-Team All-Big Ten rower Maria Schmid. "We are super excited that we can go out there and hopefully lay down some good races. It is really exciting that they are taking five teams from the Big Ten. I think we are all really excited to represent the conference and represent Wisconsin."
UW returns to the championships after placing ninth at the 2016 event. Last year's trip included a ninth-place finish in the varsity eight, which matched the program's best result with its top boat. It also included a 10th-place finish for the second varsity eight and 11th-place result for the varsity four.
Joining Wisconsin from the Big Ten will be Big Ten-champion Ohio State, which owns each of the last three varsity eight NCAA titles and team titles in three of the last four seasons. Michigan, in the top-five of the national rankings all season, as well as Indiana and Iowa, will also represent the Big Ten.
The Big Ten led all conferences with five selections, the most for the Conference since the NCAAs began in 1997.
"It is all rowing," junior Callie Hebert said about the task at hand. "Right now we have three practices a day and it is so much nicer than before Big Tens when we had finals and you are staying up late and not eating your best. Now it is 100 percent rowing and great focus going forward."
The Badgers are the No. 16 seed in the varsity eight, which slates them in Heat 1 with top-seeded Washington, Brown, Yale, and Central Florida.
The UW second varsity eight is the nine seed and rows in Heat 1 with top-seeded Washington, Yale, Washington State and Gonzaga.
Finally, Wisconsin's varsity four is its highest seeded crew at No. 6. They will race in Heat 3 of event against No. 3 seed Michigan, as well as Stanford, Indiana, Navy and Jacksonville.
"There was no 'yeah we are in, yeah we met our goal,'" said head coach Bebe Bryans. "Our goal is to compete there. We can check the box of getting invited. We didn't take quite as a direct route as we would have liked, but the body of work was enough.
"I think the theme is just coming together more and more. The thing we talked about today is that we are such a good team off the water, but we haven't been as good a team as we could be when we are on the water.
"We are excited to know for sure, but we have a lot of work to do, and yet we have such a solid base to work from."
Notes: In addition to Wisconsin, Brown, California, Ohio State, Princeton, Virginia and Washington make up the seven programs to have made at least the last 10 consecutive NCAA championships ... Wisconsin is coming off a third-place team finish at the Big Ten championships that saw its second varsity eight and varsity four boats place third, and its varsity eight place fifth.
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