Another Sunday in May and another Big Ten championship for the Ohio State women's rowing team. And they did it by the narrowest of margins over their archrival.
The club captured its fifth consecutive conference title on Sunday at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis. The Buckeyes finished with 180 total team points, just one better than the Michigan Wolverines to grab conference glory yet again.
Congrats to @OhioState_WROW on winning the 2017 #B1GRow Championships! https://t.co/wup2Ve7IKI pic.twitter.com/SCmBpVjpFB
— Big Ten Champs (@bigtenchamps) May 14, 2017
Ohio State battled Michigan all morning for Big Ten supremacy. By the time the final race of the day rolled around, the Buckeyes trailed the Wolverines 116-108 when they turned to the First Varsity Eight. That group — Cassandra Johnson, Anne Dietrich, Alice Riley, Bridget Schodorf, Aina Cid I Centelles, Rachel Engel, Stephanie Williams, Ida Kruse and Cassidey Jenney (coxswain) — crossed the finish line in 6:08:79, fewer than three seconds before Michigan at 6:11:19.
“Both Ohio State and Michigan showed how great our programs are today,” head coach Andy Teitelbaum said in a program release. “It was awesome to watch both programs lay it out the way we did event after event. We were really fortunate to grab the victory in the First Varsity Eight. It’s a great day to be a Buckeye.”
Ohio State also took titles in two other races on Sunday morning, according to the release: the Second Varsity Four and Second Novice Eight. The other boats — Second Varsity Eight, First Varsity Four, Third Varsity Four and First Novice Eight — all got second place to help keep the Buckeyes within striking distance of Michigan.
Final team results:
| RANK | TEAM | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | OHIO STATE | 180 |
| 2 | MICHIGAN | 179 |
| 3 | WISCONSIN | 126 |
| T-4 | IOWA | 106 |
| T-4 | INDIANA | 106 |
| 6 | MICHIGAN STATE | 76 |
| 7 | MINNESOTA | 54 |
| 8 | RUTGERS | 24 |
You can see full race results from Sunday here.
The title is Ohio State's eighth all-time. Along with the five most recent championships, the Buckeyes took the crown in 2002, 2006 and 2011.
Ohio State next heads to the national championships on May 26 in Mercer, New Jersey, looking to reclaim its spot atop the sport. The Buckeyes won three straight national titles from 2013-15 but finished second behind California by three points a year ago.
