Rowing takes 10th at NCAA’s

By CHLOE AUBUCHON

Daily Sports Writer

On the final day of the NCAA 

Championships Sunday, the Michi-
gan women’s rowing team failed 
to capitalize on momentum from 
its second-place finish behind top-
ranked Ohio State at the Big Ten 
Tournament, placing 10th overall 
on the weekend.

The scene at the event was simi-

lar to the Big Ten Tournament, 
with the Buck-
eyes 
making 

history as the 
first-ever 
team 

to 
win 
three 

straight 
NCAA 

titles.

A strong per-

formance in Fri-
day’s heat races 
advanced Michi-
gan 
to 
Satur-

day’s semifinals, 
where all three of the Wolverines’ 
crews — first varsity eight, second 
varsity eight and first varsity four 
— placed in the top five in their 
respective heats.

These performances were good 

for entry for all three crews in Sun-
day’s petite finals to determine sev-
enth through 12th place overall, but 
failed to put any in the grand final.

The first varsity eight posted the 

strongest showing for Michigan on 
Sunday, finishing second (6:27.251) 
behind Brown in its heat and eighth 
overall.

The 
second-place 
finishers 

fought hard to maintain their 
standing throughout the race, 
especially after a late challenge 
from Washington State.

“I thought our varsity eight had 

a good race this morning,” said 
Michigan coach Mark Rothstein. 
“We were disappointed not to get 

into the grand 
final, but finish-
ing second in 
the second-level 
final, I thought 
it was a good 
race.”

Despite 
the 

weekend’s dis-
appointments, 
Rothstein 
has 

high 
hopes 

for the future 

of his young team. With only 
four seniors, this year’s squad 
improved steadily throughout the 
year.

The young rowers not only 

helped give the Wolverines their 
15th top-10 finish, but also gained 
valuable experience that will pro-
vide a solid foundation for next 
season.

“The vast majority of this team 

will be back next year, and I think 
this is something we can build 
on,” Rothstein said. “For a lot of 
our rowers, this was their first 
time racing at NCAA’s. So having 
been through it now, I think that’s 
going to help us a lot next year.”

The second varsity eight, made 

up of mostly underclassmen, fought 
a hard back-and-forth race with a 
late surge. The crew boasted two 
of the fastest 500-meter splits in 
the heat in the second half of the 
race as it propelled to a fight for sec-
ond place before ultimately falling 
back for a fourth-place finish in its 
heat and a 10th-place overall finish 
(6:36.280).

Michigan’s first varsity four 

also recorded a fourth-place fin-
ish in its race and a 10th-place 
overall finish (7:30.335) after 
coming off the starting line in 
fourth place and challenging Cal-
ifornia and Stanford for second 
place throughout.

Though the Wolverines raced 

hard and pulled together some 
close races, they simply weren’t 
at their best during the weekend’s 
regatta and didn’t show the same 
success that they did at the Big 
Ten Tournament.

“We didn’t peak well here,” 

Rothstein said. “We seemed to 
peak at Big Tens, and that was a 
little disappointing.”

Rugby finishes 
fifth at Nationals

By LELAND MITCHINSON 

Daily Sports Writer

Going into the Collegiate 

Rugby Championship this week-
end, the Michigan rugby team 
had the goal of a top-eight finish 
for the second year in a row.

The Wolverines put on an 

impressive performance on their 
way to achieving that goal and 
taking fifth.

Beginning the tournament in a 

pool with Arkansas State, UCLA 
and Texas, Michigan opened 
play against Arkansas State with 
the rugby community watching 
to see if its success from the year 
before was anything more than a 
one-hit wonder.

“Last year was considered a 

fluke that we made it there,” said 
Michigan coach Brandon Sparks. 
“This year we were largely dis-
credited 
by 

almost every-
one 
in 
the 

rugby media.”

Concerns 

that the team 
would 
not 

be 
able 
to 

reproduce 
its 
success 

due to a weak 
conference 
schedule and 
injuries going into the tourna-
ment seemed to be legitimate 
after Michigan lost to the Red 
Wolves, 17-5.

However, 
the 
Wolverines 

bounced back and showed that 
they can play at the highest level, 
leaning on their defense in their 
17-12 victory over UCLA and 
their 29-10 defeat of Texas.

Michigan added some good 

offensive play throughout the 
tournament to go with their stout 
defense, with senior Sequoyah 
Burke-Combs finishing pool play 
as the second-leading tri scorer 
in the tournament.

The Wolverines had the mis-

fortune of having to face the 
two-time 
defending 
national 

champions, California, in the 
quarterfinals and the Michigan 
team was simply outmatched, 
falling 31-0. Despite the big 
loss, the Wolverines were able 
to bounce back from a poor first 
half to limit the Golden Bears to 

a single tri in the second.

Cal would go on to win their 

third championship in a row 
with a 17-12 overtime win over 
Kutztown.

“Cal has the best collection of 

rugby talent in America,” Sparks 
said. “Where we recruit largely 
from the general student body, 
they are a varsity program, so 
they can bring players in that are 
rugby-specific.”

Michigan’s rugby club has a 

long history, though the college-
specific team did not begin until 
2000, and the team has only been 
playing the seven-on-seven ver-
sion of the sport competitively 
for two years.

“Most of these teams have 

had legitimate sevens programs 
for 10-plus years,” Sparks said. 
“There is a big learning curve 
with sevens because it is a lot 

different than 
the traditional 
game 
of 
fif-

teens.”

Though the 

team is rela-
tively 
young, 

there is a strong 
culture around 
the program.

“It 
starts 

with the sport,” 
Sparks 
said. 

“There are no true superstars in 
the sport. There are good ath-
letes that are made to excel in 
their environment because of 
their teammates. The sport is the 
foundation of it all.

“From there it is the players 

themselves, the level of account-
ability that they hold themselves 
to both on and off the field sets 
that standard, on time, be posi-
tive, don’t do anything to embar-
rass the shirt or your last name … 
it’s the players themselves con-
stantly trying to be better on and 
off the field.”

LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily

Michigan’s first varsity eight had Michigan’s strongest showing at the NCAA Championships, taking second in the nation.

10

Thursday, June 4, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

“The vast 

majority of this 

team will be 

back next year.”

“Last year was 
considered a 
fluke that we 
made it here.”

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