Ohio State Finishes Program-Best Third at 2007 NCAA Rowing Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
May 27, 2007
Photo Gallery
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – In its eighth-consecutive NCAA appearance, the Ohio State rowing team made program history Sunday, finishing third as a team at the 2007 NCAA Championships with 52 points. The Buckeyes sealed their first-ever Top 3 finish by taking second in the Grand Final of the first varsity eight, also a team record for the highest any boat as placed, edging previously undefeated Southern California by .68 seconds in the process.
The NCAA championships were held on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn., with the University of Tennessee playing host to the three-day event. All three NCAA Divisions (I, II and III) competed at the regatta for their respective national titles.
“Our final team standing carried over from the varsity eight result,” Andy Teitelbaum, Ohio State head coach, said. “But it’s about all three boats, and they did outstanding today. The whole team did something special today.”
Brown, Virginia and OSU were the only three schools to have made it into both the first and second varsity eight Grand Finals, and finished first, second and third, respectively, in the team standings. The Buckeye first varsity four raced in the Petite Final.
The fifth-ranked Ohio State first varsity eight boat of Claudia Wurzel (Fr., Como, Italy), Zuzanna Trzcinska (So., Ilawa, Poland), Patricia Goodeman (Sr., Waterville, Ohio), Susanne Herbrand (So., Magdeburg, Germany), Gabriele Albertaviciute (Jr., Vilnius, Lithuania), Jessica Shepherd (Sr., Richmond, Ohio), Annabelle Fago (Sr., Giessen, Germany), Briony Clare (Sr., Sydney, Australia) and coxswain Susie Wilson (Sr., Fredericktown, Ohio), appearing in its fourth-consecutive NCAA Grand Final, rowed in the fifth lane. Two undefeated crews were in the race as well in No. 1 USC and No. 2 Yale, along with No. 3 Virginia, No. 4 Brown and No. 9 Princeton.
In one of the tightest races in the entire regatta, the Buckeyes started slowly out of the gates sitting in sixth place at the 500-meter mark. The crew worked its way up to fourth and then third, before pushing up to second in the final 500 meters with a split time of 1:39.38 in the last part of the race. Ohio State crossed the finish line at 6:38.77 to finish second to Yale at 6:37.08. USC was third (6:39.45), Brown fourth (6:29.55) and Virginia fifth (6:41.50). The Buckeyes also topped defending 1V8 NCAA champ Princeton, who was sixth at 6:45.38.
“I had a feeling we were moving well,” Teitelbaum said about the 1V8 Grand Final. “I was hoping the speed we had shown in the semifinals would carry over to the finals. When it did, the momentum pushed us ahead of USC and Brown and it snowballed from there to the finish line. This crew is better than the sum of its parts. They have achieved special things all year and this is the exclamation point.”
The OSU second varsity eight crew of Andrea Dymalski (Jr., Bremen, Germany), Nora Franzen (Fr., Bad Honnef, Germany), Giulia Benedetti (Sr., Columbus, Ohio), Simone Haubner (Jr., Leipzig, Germany), Jackie Ruetenik (Sr., Vermillion, Ohio), Justine Mahler (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio), Mary Sheehan (Sr., Johnstown, Pa.), Mackenzie Hiltbrand (Sr., Upper Arlington, Ohio) and Kate Hanseman (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) rowed in the fifth lane of the Grand Final, its third in as many years. The Buckeyes were sixth after the first 500 meters, and moved up to fifth where they would finish with a time of 7:08.52. Minnesota surprised the field by winning the race at 6:56.39, ahead of Cal (6:59.15), Brown (6:59.71) and Virginia (7:01.52).
In the Petite Final, the OSU first varsity four crew of Erin Shropshire (Fr, Cincinnati, Ohio), Katie Flarida (Fr., Lima, Ohio), Johnna Burns (Fr., Napoleon, Ohio), Sara Wallace (So., Lebanon, Ohio) and coxswain Chelsea Smith (So., Dublin, Ohio) stumbled out of the gates in the first lane falling back to sixth through 1,500 meters. In the final 500, the Buckeyes made a push with a second-best split time of 1:57.13 to vault into a fourth-place finish with a total time of 7:56.02. OSU edged fifth place Notre Dame by just .32 seconds. USC won the race at 7:44.06.
While at the NCAA championships, the Buckeyes continued their success at Melton Hill Lake. They have won five-consecutive Central Region championships at the Oak Ridge site, including the 2007 title May 12-13. Ohio State also tied its record for points in an NCAA championship, matching the 52-point total from 2006.
2007 NCAA Championships
Day 3 Results: Grand and Petite Finals
Melton Hill Lake, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
TEAM STANDINGS
Teams Points
1. Brown 58
2. Virginia 54
3. Ohio State 52
4. Yale 51
5. USC 48
6. Minnesota 47
7. California 38
8. Princeton 34
9. Tennessee 29
10. Washington 25
11. Harvard 19
12. Notre Dame 13
FIRST VARSITY EIGHT
Grand Final
1. Yale 6:37.08
2. Ohio State 6:38.77
3. USC 6:39.45
4. Brown 6:39.55
5. Virginia 6:41.50
6. Princeton 6:45.38
SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
Grand Final
1. Minnesota 6:56.39
2. California 6:59.15
3. Brown 6:59.71
4. Virginia 7:01.52
5. Ohio State 7:08.52
6. Washington 7:11.29
FIRST VARSITY FOUR
Petite Final
1. USC 7:44.06
2. Minnesota 7:49.31
3. Tennessee 7:54.18
4. Ohio State 7:56.02
5. Notre Dame 7:56.34
6. Harvard 7:58.91
