
Site: Sarasota, Fla. (Nathan Benderson Park)
First Varsity Eight Finish: 6:19.93 (1st of 6), 6:28.53 (4th of 5)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 19 — host, Big Ten Invitational – Day 2 (Sarasota, Fla.), 8:30 a.m.
SARASOTA, Fla. — The No. 12-ranked University of Michigan rowing program took on a competitive field of teams across two racing sessions at Nathan Benderson Park during day one of the Big Ten Invitational on Friday (April 18). The Wolverines earned first-place finishes in eight of 14 races, with each of U-M’s seven boats taking at least one victory.
Michigan’s first and second varsity eights picked up morning wins but saw less success in the afternoon in a competitive session of races.
Conditions were a sunny 74 degrees to open racing. A crosswind was in play, gusts reaching up to 17 mph at Michigan’s 9:50 a.m. start. U-M’s first four races took place against a field of No. 16 Duke, No. 18 Harvard, No. 24 USC, Miami, and Wisconsin.
The Wolverines’ 2V4 was the first to race and kicked off a morning session, producing six wins in seven U-M races. The U-M second four got out to an early three-seat lead before Harvard and Duke’s fours closed the gap at the 1,000-meter mark. U-M pushed towards the finish line with only a one-seat lead and took a win in its first race of the day by just 0.57 seconds over the Blue Devils.
Momentum carried into race two, the 1V4, where the Wolverines gained open water within the first 1,000 meters. Harvard closed the gap in the race’s second half, but Michigan’s early lead was too much to come back from, earning a two-second victory.
The 2V8 race was a thriller, as Harvard took an early lead before the Wolverines made their move at the 1,000. Michigan rowed together through the next 500 and remained bow-to-bow with the Crimson. In the final 500 meters, Michigan surged forward and crossed the finish line with five seats on second-place Harvard despite being behind in the early stages of the race.
In the first varsity eight, Michigan took nearly a full boat-length lead in the race’s first half. Again, Harvard remained close and narrowed the Maize and Blue lead to only three seats with 500 meters left in the race. The Wolverines held on and rowed towards a 1V8 victory.
U-M’s three final morning races all yielded wide margins of victory, two of which were by the Wolverines. Michigan secured commanding victories in both the 3V4 and 1N8 races but fell short to Ohio State in the 2N8.
Michigan’s 1V8, 2V8, 1V4 and 2V4 afternoon races, taking place in cloudless 88-degree conditions, were held against a fast group of No. 6 Tennessee, No. 9 Rutgers, No. 11 Penn, and SMU.
Tennessee ran the field in the afternoon, winning three of the four premier races. The first four was Michigan’s most competitive race, falling short of the Volunteers by 3.5 seconds. The Wolverines put together a strong final push in the final 500, surging ahead of Penn and Rutgers’ crews which they were even with for most of the race.
In the varsity eights, Michigan battled for third place with Penn, crossing before the Quakers in a photo finish during the 2V8 race but falling short by less than 0.4 seconds in the 1V8.
Similar to the morning session, the Wolverines saw two first-place finishes between the 3V4 and the team’s novice boats to wrap up the first-day competition.
Michigan will begin racing Saturday (April 19) on day two of the Big Ten Invitational at 8:30 a.m. with the 1N8 event. The Wolverines will mostly compete against Penn, Tennessee, Washington, Brown, and Ohio State at Nathan Benderson Park.
Results (A.M.)
First Varsity Eight
1. MICHIGAN — 6:19.93
2. Harvard/Radcliffe — 6:21.46
3. Miami — 6:30.91
4. USC — 6:31.42
5. Duke — 6:35.40
6. Wisconsin — 6:41.80
Second Varsity Eight
1. MICHIGAN — 6:27.56
2. Harvard/Radcliffe — 6:29.38
3. USC — 6:35.37
4. Duke — 6:36.59
5. Miami — 6:42.59
6. Wisconsin — 7:01.23
First Varsity Four
1. MICHIGAN — 7:09.28
2. Harvard/Radcliffe — 7:11.12
3. Duke — 7:13.33
4. USC — 7:17.40
5. Miami — 7:22.40
6. Wisconsin — 7:53.36
Second Varsity Four
1. MICHIGAN — 7:14.56
2. Duke — 7:15.13
3. Harvard/Radcliffe — 7:15.49
4. USC — 7:28.42
5. Miami — 7:34.20
6. Wisconsin — 7:42.53
Third Varsity Four
1. MICHIGAN — 7:23.46
2. Notre Dame — 7:50.53
3. USC — 8:02.20
4. Iowa — 8:04.64
First Novice Eight
1. MICHIGAN — 6:45.73
2. Alabama — 6:50.07
3. USC — 6:51.54
4. Michigan State — 6:52.17
5. Oklahoma — 7:03.6
6. Clemson — 7:05.45
Second Novice Eight
1. Ohio State — 7:00.53
2. MICHIGAN — 7:08.17
3. Minnesota — 7:10.71
4. Indiana — 7:52.14
Results (P.M.)
First Varsity Eight
1. Tennessee — 6:15.16
2. Rutgers — 6:20.22
3. Penn — 6:26.08
4. MICHIGAN — 6:28.53
5. SMU — 6:42.06
Second Varsity Eight
1. Tennessee — 6:28.44
2. Rutgers — 6:34.09
3. MICHIGAN — 6:37.74
4. Penn — 6:38.25
5. SMU — 6:51.55
First Varsity Four
1. Tennessee — 7:16.60
2. MICHIGAN — 7:20.18
3. Rutgers — 7:23.38
4. Penn — 7:27.50
5. SMU — 7:28.14
Second Varsity Four
1. Rutgers — 7:13.39
2. Tennessee — 7:18.47
3. Penn — 7:29.54
4. MICHIGAN — 7:32.97
5. SMU — 7:59.21
Third Varsity Four
1. MICHIGAN — 7:37.90
2. Rutgers — 7:48.24
3. Oklahoma — 8:29.23
4. Iowa — 8:39.68
First Novice Eight
1. Rutgers — 6:56.46
2. MICHIGAN — 7:03.43
3. Notre Dame — 7:09.32
4. Michigan State — 7:10.30
5. Clemson — 7:17.93
6. Duke — 7:23.96
Second Novice Eight
1. MICHIGAN — 7:10.31
2. Rutgers — 7:15.56
3. Minnesota — 7:18.00
4. Iowa — 7:29.096
5. Miami — 7:35.90
Michigan Lineups
A.M.
1V8: Logan Roeder (coxswain), Katie Easton, Jana Peachey, Amy Newton, Sara Houben, Leia Till, Autumn Crowe, Gabrielle Graves, Carla Russell
2V8: Isabela Pimentel (coxswain), Deanna Macolino, Gretel Ham, Madeleine Lauriault, Gracie Landefeld, Grace Hammis, Zara Bongiorno, Madeson Scott, Abby Hathaway
1V4: Emma Kerkau, Abigail Dent, Leah Miller, Megan Higley, Talia Daft (coxswain)
2V4: Olivia Hemker, Maddy Matos, Sinéad Erasmus, Ansley Vicars, Lillie Gregory (coxswain)
3V4: Leija Murphy, Grace Harte, Olive Pascoe, Halle Loveday, Rumaysa Siddiqi (coxswain)
1N8: Catalina Echavarria (coxswain), Tacey Moore, Ava Harrington, Isobel Block, Kiley Locke, Ayelel Meyen, Julia Webber, Ava Fox, Megan Arntz
2N8: Ava Faraj (coxswain), Alex Morales, Lucie Belknap, Adrianna Getzloff, Madison Dakin, Ava Mardis, Nicole Granovsky, Lily Palmerino, Catherine Alcantara
P.M.
1V8: Logan Roeder (coxswain), Jana Peachey, Sara Houben, Abigail Dent, Leia Till, Amy Newton, Gabrielle Graves, Autumn Crowe, Carla Russell
2V8: Isabela Pimentel (coxswain), Deanna Macolino, Gretel Ham, Madeleine Lauriault, Gracie Landefeld, Grace Hammis, Zara Bongiorno, Madeson Scott, Abby Hathaway
1V4: Emma Kerkau, Leah Miller, Ansley Vicars, Megan Higley, Talia Daft (coxswain)
2V4: Olive Pascoe, Grace Harte, Sinéad Erasmus, Maddy Matos, Lillie Gregory (coxswain)
3V4: Leija Murphy, Halle Loveday, Olivia Hemker, Margaret Vander Woude, Rumaysa Siddiqi (coxswain)
1N8: Catalina Echavarria (coxswain), Tacey Moore, Ava Harrington, Isobel Block, Kiley Locke, Ayelel Meyen, Julia Webber, Ava Fox, Megan Arntz
2N8: Ava Faraj (coxswain), Alex Morales, Lucie Belknap, Adrianna Getzloff, Madison Dakin, Ava Mardis, Nicole Granovsky, Lily Palmerino, Catherine Alcantara
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