No. 9 Women’s Rowing Hosts Five Ranked Teams at Regatta – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/12/2001 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
April 12, 2001
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 9 Ohio State women’s rowing team hosts the Buckeye Invitational this Saturday, April 14, at Griggs Reservoir on the Scioto River. The Buckeyes will play host to six schools, five of which are ranked nationally in the latest Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA Varsity Division I Varsity Eight Coaches Poll. USC (No. 2), Michigan (No. 5), Iowa (No. 11), Clemson (No. 15) and Michigan State (No. 19), will all be on hand. Kansas will also paritcipate. The regatta will be split into two sessions. The first will begin at 9 a.m and will run until 10:40 a.m. The second session will start at 1p.m. and go until 2:30 p.m.
BUCKEYES RANKED NO. 9
OSU is ranked No. 9 nationally in the season’s second USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA Division I Varsity Eight Coaches Poll, dropping two spots from a program record No. 7 ranking in the first poll of the season. Brown University, whom OSU fell to March 31, retained its No. 1 ranking, collecting 17 first-place votes to claim the top spot. USRowing, in conjunction withthe Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) will conduct weekly polls for Women’s NCAA Division I Collegiate Varsity Eights throughout the season. Head coach Andy Teitelbaum said the ranking is a definite positive, but was quick not to make too much of it. “The ranking is nice, but the reality is the rankings don’t matter once you’re on the water,” he said. “At the same time, it’s nice to be recognized. We’re just going to keep trying to get faster.” HIGH PROFILE REGATTA
Teitelbaum is excited to play host to so many high-profile programs at one regatta. “We’re really excited to have so many great teams in town at one time,” Teitelbaum said. “Southern California definetly put themselves out there as a favorite after beating Washington, who is the No. 2 team in the last poll. USC beat them at the San Diego Classic last weekend. Michigan is No. 4 and I see no reason to think they’re going to be any slower out there than the fastest crews. Clemson, who is only it its third year, is really starting to emerge as a high-caliber program. They’ve always showed they were doing things well. Now, their top boat is starting to show the type of speed that can compete with any team in the country. Iowa’s varsity eight just beat (No. 11) Boston University last weekend. Michigan State got off to a slow start, but they’ve done that in the past ans picked up speed by about this time last year. There will be a lot of boats that will be challenging us on the river. It’s going to be a high-profile regatta.”
NEW LOOK FOR SCIOTO
With the seven-field regatta, the Scioto River will have somewhat of a new look. Instead of the usual two lanes divided by one buoy, there will be four lanes split by three buoys. “The race course is going to be setup unlike its ever been,” Teitelbaum said. “We’re going to have three buoy lines on the Scioto. It’s really an excellent venue for a regatta. We’ve never had the proper equipment like we have now. It’s nice to elevate the quality of the events on the Scioto, because the water itself is fantastic. The regattas that have been held here in the past have only had one buoy line, so we’ve had two-boat races. When you start talking about running a regatta of this caliber, you want everybody to feel the race and environment were first class. At Ohio State, that’s the way things are done.”
ROUGH WATERS
As a result of the heavy rainfall throughout the early part of the week, Teitelbaum said the Scioto river could be more difficult than usual. “When you get three or four days of rain in a row, any river is going to show the effects,” Teitelbaum said. Teitelbaum said the river should be fine, provided there is little rainfall in the latter part of the week. “Hopefully, we’re close to done with the rain this week,” he said. “If we don’t see anything for most of Thursday, Friday or Saturday, I would imagine the river will be fine.”
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
With the competition at the regatta obviously top-notch, Teitelbaum said his team is afforded an opportunity to raise the stature of the program to an even highter level “The bottom line is if we’re going to be one of the top programs in the country, we have to beat the top teams in the country,” Teitelbaum said. “Our expectations are to go out and win. I don’t feel like we’re necessarily a superior crew than most of the other teams by any means, but at some point in time, if you’re going to get from No. 7 to No. 2, 3 or 4, you have to knock off those schools. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
BIG TEN IMPLICATIONS
With four Big Ten schools competing at the Buckeye Invitational, the regatta will have an impact on the conference seedings for the conference championships, which will take place in two weeks in Ann Arbor, Mich. “With all the Big Ten schools that are going to be racing each other in one form or another, it’s going to be important for us to have our best showing. We need to show what we are capable of, both on the national and conference level.”
UP NEXT
Saturday, April 28, OSU will compete at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.
