Ohio State
NCAA Championships
First Varsity Four Wins NCAA Championship – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/27/2012 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
May 27, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio–The No. 4 Ohio State rowing team’s First Varsity Four and Second Varsity Eight earned a gold and silver medal, respectively, to lift the Buckeyes to a fifth-place finish (67 points) at the 2012 NCAA Division I Championships Sunday on Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J.
With a time of 7:13.09 the 1V4 won the program’s first national title as it beat Virginia by 2.09 seconds. The First Varsity Four was led by coxswain Alexandra Sawatzki, Taylore Urban, Katie King, Stephanie Johnson and Emily Ralph. Previously the Buckeye 1V4 had placed as high as third at the NCAA Championships in 2006 in West Windsor, N.J.
In the Second Varsity Eight race the Buckeyes fell short of the NCAA title by just 1.90 seconds as it clocked in with a time of 6:38.94. Michigan clipped the Scarlet and Gray, crossing the finish line in 6:37.04. The Second Varsity Eight of Katie Beletskaya, Samantha Fowle, Ashley Bauer, Meghan Birkbeck, Claudia Schiwy, Eelkje Miedema, Cori Meinert, Nadine Seehaus and coxswain Victoria Lazur tied the crew’s NCAA best finish, which was also set in 2008 in Rancho Cordova, Calif.
The First Varsity Eight (Elle Heister, Claudia Herpertz, Ulrike Denker, Emily Walsh, Kate Sweeney, Allison Elber, Ilse Paulis, Claire-Louise Bode, and coxswain Amanda Poll) raced in the petite final and sounded the horn at 6:32.69 to place 10th overall.
Virginia was crowned the 2012 NCAA champion with a total of 87 points. Michigan was the runner up with 82 points, while California rounded out the Top 3 with 78 points.
2012 NCAA Division I Championships
May 27, 2012
Day 3
Lake Mercer
West Windsor, N.J.
Finals
| First Varsity Four | Grand Final |
| 1. Ohio State | 7:13.09 |
| 2. Virginia | 7:15.18 |
| 3. California | 7:21.15 |
| 4. Yale | 7:23.52 |
| 5. Princeton | 7:26.23 |
| 6. Washington | 7:29.20 |
| Second Varsity Eight | Grand Final |
| 1. Michigan | 6:37.04 |
| 2. Ohio State | 6:38.94 |
| 3. California | 6:40.85 |
| 4. Princeton | 6:42.61 |
| 5. Virginia | 6:44.97 |
| 6. UCLA | 7:10.40 |
| First Varsity Eight | Petite Final |
| 7. UCLA | 6:28.49 |
| 8. Stanford | 6:29.86 |
| 9. Harvard | 6:29.89 |
| 10. Ohio State | 6:32.69 |
| 11. Cornell | 6:33.86 |
| 12. Yale | 6:39.75 |
| Final Team Standings | |
| 1. Virginia | 87 |
| 2. Michigan | 82 |
| 3. California | 78 |
| 4. Princeton | 77 |
| 5. Ohio State | 67 |
| 6. USC | 66 |
| 7. Washington | 62 |
| 8. UCLA | 62 |
| 9. Stanford | 40 |
| 10. Yale | 38 |
| 11. Wisconsin | 34 |
| 12. Harvard | 32 |
| 13. Cornell | 31 |
| 14. Brown | 25 |
| 15. Notre Dame | 20 |
| 16. Michigan State | 15 |
