No. 9 Ohio State Rowing Opens Season in Princeton, N.J. – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
March 25, 2004
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 9 Ohio State rowing team opens its 2004 season as it travels to Princeton, N.J., to face No. 3 Princeton and No. 1 Brown at 9 a.m. Saturday on Lake Carnegie.
OHIO STATE VS. PRINCETON
The last time Ohio State and Princeton’s first varsity eight boats met head-to-head was in the petite final of the 2003 NCAA Championships in Indianapolis. Princeton finished second five-tenths of a second ahead of third-place Ohio State.
Princeton is tied for third in the preseason Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association poll. The Tigers and Yale are tied with 314 points.
OHIO STATE VS. BROWN
Ohio State and Brown’s first varsity eight met last season in the petite final of the NCAA Championships. Brown’s varsity eight came in first, three seconds ahead of Ohio State, who finished third.
Brown is ranked No. 1 in the preseason Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Poll, nine points ahead of No. 2 Michigan.
THE 2004 SEASON
The 2004 schedule will take the Buckeyes to all different corners of the nation. After this weekend’s regatta in Princeton, N.J. Ohio State will return to Griggs Reservoir for its first and only spring home regatta, where it will compete against the 2003 Big Ten Champions the Michigan Wolverines.
“We have a very competitive schedule this year, but the only way you are going to be the best is by facing the best,” head coach Andy Teitelbaum said. The Buckeyes also will travel to Charlottesville, Va., and Bloomington, Ind., before going to Iowa City, Iowa, the site of the 2004 Big Ten Championships. Following the Big Ten Championships, the Buckeyes will travel to the 2004 Central/South Regional Championships, which once again will be held in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on May 15-16. The final regatta of the year is the NCAA championships held in Sacramento, Calif., May 28-30.
“We are excited about this year, and feel it will be another great year as far as travel and competition,” Teitelbaum said.
BIG TEN LEADERS
Michigan leads the Big Ten in Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association poll this season ranked second behind Brown. Five of the seven Big Ten team are ranked in the Top 20 preseason poll – Michigan (1), Michigan State (8), Ohio State (9), Wisconsin (19) and Iowa (20).
TOUGH SCHEDULE AHEAD
Ohio State opens the 2004 season facing No. 1 Brown and No. 3 Princeton. In week two of the season, OSU takes on No. 2 Michigan. At the ACC/Big Ten regatta, the Buckeyes will race against No. 7 Virginia and No. 18 Duke.
THE DUALS SUCCESS
The dual teams started off their season taking an impressive first place at the Speakmon Head Race. Ohio State entered five pair boats into the competition, which took all five spots out of 11 boats. The Buckeyes first varsity pair and first varsity eight also took first at the Rivanna Romp, which was the last dual of preseason competition.
AROUND THE GLOBE
In the tradition of Ohio State rowing, the team once again sports a delegation from around the globe.
The team now includes seven members from Germany (Diana Albrecht, Ninnet Kossowsky, Jana Schiller, Franzi Schubert, Suzi Wesenberg, Wilma Dressel, and Nora Oelbermann) and seven other members from countries other than the U.S.
Overall, the team has representatives from five countries (Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, and United States) and seven states (Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia).
FALL RECAP
Ohio State began its fall season in impressive fashion winning the Speakmon Head Race in Columbus, Ohio.
Ohio State entered three varsity eight boats which all finished in the top three. The OSU second eight finished first at 16:17.4, the first eight fell just behind with a 16:25.11 finish and the third eight rounded out the top three at 16:55.36.
Ohio State also entered five pair boats into the competition, which swept the Top 5 times out of 11 boats.
The Buckeyes then traveled to Charlottesville, Va., where they took first place out of 17 teams. The Ohio State varsity eight boats all finished under 14 minutes. The OSU first eight finished first at 13:07.6, the OSU second varsity eight took seventh place with a 13:34.2 finish and the OSU third varsity 8 boat came in closely behind, finishing ninth at 13:59.7. The Buckeye first varsity pair finished first at 16:09.1, 18.4 seconds ahead of Duke, who finished second.
THE NEWCOMERS
To go along with the depth and experience of the returning rowers, the Buckeyes have added another stellar recruiting class as well as several members from the team’s novice program.
Overall, 13 new rowers, including six freshman, will look to contribute to the success of the Buckeyes this season. Five members of the recruiting class are from Germany and the Netherlands and have all competed on a national team that went to the world championships.
“The leadership is great this year,” Teitelbaum said. “The upcoming freshman class is fantastic and have been able to compete at the highest level.”
The six freshmen consist of Wilma Dressel, Annabelle Fago, Ellen Maas, Nora Oelbermann, Briony Clare and Merel Julia Steinweg.
The team also will add seven rowers from the novice program, who should bring experience and power to the team. The seven new rowers include Beth Tompkins, Sarah Obee, Susan Cohen, Katie Machingo, Sarah Mominee, Kathryn Poling and Kelsey Reider.
2003 SPRING RECAP
The Buckeyes experienced a number of firsts in the 2002-03 season, including winning its first central/south regional championship and tied a number of program bests, including qualifying two of three boats for the Grand Finals and posting a fourth-place national finish in the first varsity 4 competition.
The highlight of the season was the team taking either gold or silver in all but one of the six boat championships at the regional regatta to win the central region championship.
The 2002-03 team once again was not short on accolades. Seniors Maxi Meissner and Karla Fiserova were named to the 2003 First Team All-America, all central region and All-Big Ten. Sophomore Franziska Schubert was named to the first team all-region, Natalie Legge was named to the second team all-conference and all-region, while Heather Feldmann was named to the second team all-conference squad. Head Coach Andy Teitelbaum received 2003 Central Region Coach of the Year accolades.
BIG TEN NOTES
The 2004 season marks the fifth season of Big Ten Conference women’s rowing. Seven conference teams compete in women’s rowing: Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin.
The Big Ten has two new head coaches this season as Steve Pederson takes over the Indiana program and Sue Ela returns on an interim basis to the helm at Wisconsin, a position she previously held for 18 years.
BIG TEN ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The University of Iowa will play host to the fifth annual Big Ten Women’s Rowing Championships Saturday, May 1 at Lake Macbride in Iowa City, Iowa.
Last spring, Michigan won its third conference title by virtue of the league’s tie-breaker after the Wolverines and Michigan State each tallied 123 total points. The tie-breaker decides the championships winner using results from the first varsity eight grand final. MSU finished third in that premier event while Michigan won the race to claim the conference title. Ohio State is the only other school to win a Big Ten rowing crown as the Buckeyes were victorious in 2002.
NEXT UP FOR THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State will play host to No. 2 Michigan at 10 a.m. April 3 at Griggs Reservoir on the Scioto River in Columbus, Ohio. Michigan is the defending 2003 Big Ten Champions.
