BY CAT STANLEY
For the Daily
Published March 27, 2011
On a cloudy Saturday morning in East Columbus, the Michigan women’s rowing team opened its spring season with a dual race against Ohio State on the Scioto River. The Wolverines defeated their Big Ten rivals in the novice races, but fell short in the more important varsity races.
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“We have a lot of work to do,” Michigan coach Mark Rothstein said after the race Saturday. “We’re disappointed with the results.”
The novice boats showed up strong, beating the Buckeyes in the two novice eight races. The first novice eight crossed the finish line nearly three seconds faster than Ohio State, whereas the second novice eight won by a more decisive margin, finishing eight seconds faster than the Buckeyes.
“Overall (the novice rowers) did a really nice job and I was pleased with them,” Rothstein said.
The Michigan varsity team sent out five boats, and the first varsity four race was the closest race of the day between the two rivals. Ohio State pulled away in the last 200 meters of the race, finishing with a time of 7:27.3, while Michigan rowed 7:28.9.
Michigan was not as close in dual races. Ohio State closed the meet with wins in both the first and second varsity eights. The Buckeyes finished the first varsity eight 12 seconds faster than the Wolverines. Ohio State won by a similar margin in the second varsity eight.
“We need to row better,” Rothstein said. “We need to get more water time, hopefully get better weather. We just need to improve every day.”
This race against Ohio State marked the second-consecutive season Michigan has raced a Big Ten opponent to open the season. But it's the first meeting between Michigan and Ohio State to open a season in the last 10 seasons.
“It’s early, and I don’t want to put too much weight on these early races,” Rothstein said. “It gives us a sense of where were starting from, and that is low. We have a long way to go.”
Michigan will continue its spring season next weekend when they return to Columbus for the Big Ten/ACC Double Dual to race against Clemson and defending national champion Virginia.
