Hawkeyes Travel to NCAA Championships

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THIS WEEK
No. 13 University of Iowa women’s rowing team travels to West Windsor, New Jersey to compete in the 2017 NCAA Championships. Competition is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. (CT) on Friday, May 26, at Lake Mercer. This is the second time in program history the Hawkeyes have earned a berth in the NCAA Championships.   

RACE STRUCTURE 
Competition will be broken up over three days. Friday will consist of the I Eight, II Eight, and I Four heats along with the I Eight, II Eight, and I Four repacheges. The Hawkeyes I Eight will race in heat 2, the II Eight will race in heat 4, and the I Four will race in heat 1. 

• Iowa’s I Eight crew will race against California, Michigan, Washington State, and Gonzaga at 8:12 a.m. (CT). 
• The II Eight crew will race against Michigan, Texas, Stanford, Massachusetts, and UCF at 9:24 a.m. 
• The I Four crew will face Washington, Virginia, Texas, and Notre Dame beginning at 9:36 a.m. 

The semifinals for all boat classes will be on Saturday. Sunday, May 28, consists of the Grand final, Petite final, C final, and D final. An explanation of race progressions can be found below.

RACE PROGRESSIONS

FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live stream on ncaa.com/liveschedule. A link will be posted on hawkeyesports.com. A member of the Iowa rowing staff will offer interactive Twitter content live at the NCAA Championships via @iowarowing. This feature gives Hawkeye fans the opportunity to stay up to date on the latest news and scores during the regattas.

LAST TIME OUT

• Iowa finished tied for fourth with a program-record 106 points at the 2017 Big Ten Championships on May 14.
• The I Four crew finished sixth ahead of Minnesota and Rutgers.
• The I Eight and II Eight crews finished fourth.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

• The Hawkeyes were selected to the NCAA Championships for the second time in program history. Iowa competed at the 2001 NCAA Championships where it finished in ninth out of ten boats with 18 points.
• Iowa broke the team record for number of points scored with 106 at the 2017 Big Ten Championships. The Hawkeyes tied for fourth with Indiana.
• The Hawkeyes reached the highest ranking in program history April 25 when they were ranked No. 11 in the CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll. 

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

• The I Eight and I Four crews defeated Duke, USD, and Oklahoma at the Longhorn Invitational on March 25. The  then unranked Hawkeyes fell to No. 8 Texas. 
• The I Eight, II Eight, and I Four crews defeated Michigan State and Louisville at the Double Dual on April 1. 
• Then No. 13 Iowa defeated Rutgers in the I Eight, II Eight, and I Four races, but fell to No. 4 Ohio State at the Big Ten Double Dual on April 8.
• The then No. 11 Hawkeyes defeated No. 15 Syracuse in the I Eight, II Eight and I Four events but fell to No. 7 Princeton on April 30. 

I EIGHT OPPONENTS

• California’s I Eight crew finished runner-up to No. 1 Washington at the Pac-12 Championships on May 14. 
• Michigan’s I Eight crew finished runner-up to Big Ten Champion Ohio State at the Big Ten Championships on May 14.
• Washington State’s I Eight crew finished fourth, tying it’s best finish since 2008, at the Pac-12 Championships on May 14. The Cougars finished ahead of USC, Oregon State, and UCLA.  
• Gonzaga won it’s third-straight West Coast Conference Championship. The I Eight crew won its event, defeating San Diego, Loyola Marymount, Portland, Saint Mary’s, Creighton, and Santa Clara on May 13. 

II EIGHT OPPONENTS

• Michigan’s  II Eight crew defeated Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Rutgers to win the event at the Big Ten Championships on May 14. 
• Texas won its third-straight Big 12 Title on May 14. The II Eight crew defeated Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas State, Kansas, and Alabama in the Grand Final to help the Longhorns win the title. 
• Stanford’s II Eight crew finished third, defeating Washington State, UCLA, Oregon State, and USC at the Pac-12 Championships on May 14.
• Massachusetts won the Atlantic 10 Championship, with the II Eight crew finishing runner-up to Rhode Island, on May 6. 
• UCF won its third-straight American Athletic Conference title, with the II Eight crew defeating UConn, Sacramento State, San Diego State, SMU, Temple, and Tulsa  on May 13. 

I FOUR OPPONENTS

• Texas’  I Four crew defeated Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, and Kansas State in the Grand Final to help the Longhorns win the title. 
• Washington won the Pac-12 Championship on May 14, with its I Four crew beating California, USC, Stanford, UCLA, Washington State, and Oregon State to win the race.
• Virginia won its eighth-straight ACC Rowing Championship on May 14, with its I Four crew defeating Louisville, Duke, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Clemson in the Grand Final. 
• Notre Dame’s I Four crew finished fifth in the Grand Final at the ACC Championships on May 14. 

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The 2017 women’s rowing team has 33 freshmen, 17 sophomores, 12 juniors, and six seniors.

CRCA AWARDS ROUNDUP
Seven University of Iowa rowing student-athletes earned Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association recognition in 2016.Senior Beth Baustian earned Region 4 first team all-region honors, while sophomore Izzy Dolba garnered Region 4 second team all-region honors. Candidates are evaluated on their team’s regional finish, coach recommendation, and 2,000-meter erg score. Senior Madeline Anglin, junior Victoria Bricker, senior Katie Brown, sophomore Kaelynn Heiberg and sophomore Gemma Kerr all earned CRCA National Scholar Athlete recognition. It is the third straight honor for Anglin and Brown, while Bricker earns her second consecutive award. To qualify for the honor, student-athletes must maintain a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher, race in 75 percent of their team’s races, and be in their second, third, or fourth year of eligibility.

ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN
20 rowing student athletes were named to the 2016 Spring Academic All-Big Ten team. This is the most for the program since 2009. 174 rowing student-athletes were honored. Iowa rower Skylar McSorley was one of 23 student-athletes to have a perfect cumulative GPA. To be eligible for an Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. Seniors Madeline Anglin, Beth Baustian, Claire Benschoter, Katie Brown, Rachel Chambers, Hannah Hawks, McSorley, Zoe Ribar, Hannah Rochford, Jessica Streur, Lauren Subler, juniors Danielle Bender, Victoria Bricker, McKinzie Cowley, Ellen Cranberg, Sarah Powell, sophomores Kaelynn Heiberg, Trisha Huerta, Gemma Kerr, and Baillie McCunn were named to the Academic All-Big Ten team.

B1G DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS
Seven rowing student athletes were honored with the Distinguished Scholar Award in 2016. Recipients of the Distinguished Scholar Award must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at the institution and have a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year. Seniors Madeline Anglin, Katie Brown, Rachel Chambers, Hannah Hawks, Skylar McSorley, Hannah Rochford, and sophomore Kaelynn Heiberg wererecognized. Anglin, McSorley, and Rochford maintained perfect 4.0 GPAs. 

COACH FOR COLLEGE
Junior Danielle Bender represented the Hawkeyes over the summer in Hoa An and Thuan Hung, Vietnam. Shewas one of the 17 American student-athletes to be part of the Coach for College Program. The Coach for College program brings together U.S. student-athletes and Vietnamese students. Bender taught math and coached baseball to junior high students in sixth through ninth grades.

STAFF CHANGES
Megan Fitzpatrick was promoted from graduate assistant coach to assistant coach, Megan Patrick was announced as an assistant coach, and Emma Gresson was appointed as graduate assistant coach in August of 2016. Fitzpatrick was a graduate assistant from 2014-16. She came to Iowa from the University of Tulsa, where she was a four-year rowing letterwinner. Patrick joins the Hawkeyes after a four-year stint at Alabama, where her primary duties included serving as the Crimson Tide’s recruiting coordinator and coaching UA’s small boats. Gresson spent the past six seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma. She headed up Oklahoma’s novice program for four years before stepping into a varsity coach position.