No. 5 Rowing Wins Five Medals in 3rd Place Finish at the Big Ten Championships

Sunday, May 16

Indianapolis, Ind. - Indianapolis Rowing Center

9 AM ET

Rutgers University

Big Ten Championships

No. 5 Rowing Wins Five Medals in 3rd Place Finish at the Big Ten Championships

May 16 | Women's Rowing

Big Ten Championships Race Results Big Ten Championships Central

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – No. 5 Rutgers rowing placed third with 143 points at the Big Ten Championships behind five medal-winning performances on Sunday morning at Eagle Creek Park. The results mark the best Big Ten Championships performance for the Scarlet Knights since joining the conference during the 2015 season with program records for team finish, points, medals, and All-Conference selections.

The Scarlet Knights' previous best Big Ten results came during the last championship event held in 2019 with a fourth-place team finish, 107 points, and two Big Ten medals.

"Today was a big day for our team as we continue to make significant improvements as a program," said head coach Justin Price. "It was great to see all five varsity events on the podium and I am really proud of the work done by those athletes to put them in that position today. It was a tough day for some of our younger athletes in the Novice 8, but I am proud of how they responded and know that today will only help build the resilience and grit that will help them compete for spots on the podium in the future."

The Scarlet Knights claimed a pair of 2021 silver medals for runner-up finishes in the 1^st Varsity 8 and the 3^rd Varsity 4. The Rutgers Varsity 8 boat earned its first Big Ten medal with their 6:27.184 finish, which missed out on gold by just 1.4 seconds behind Michigan. The 3^rd Varsity 4 finished second in 7:38.576 with open water ahead of third through seventh, signaling the best conference championships finish for the boat.

The V8 finish. Great fight. This crew made a statement and will wait to hear their name called for the NCAA Championships. pic.twitter.com/nO4Im74bIR
— RutgersWomensRowing (@RutgersWRowing) May 16, 2021

Rutgers' three bronze medals came from the 2^nd Varsity 8, the 1^st Varsity 4, and the 2^nd Varsity 4. The 2^nd Varsity 8 was third in 6:40.327, which was just 0.8 seconds behind second. The 1^st Varsity 4 crew earned its first Big Ten medal with a third place finish in 7:30.732, and the 2^nd Varsity 4 boat medaled for the second consecutive championships with a third place time of 7:41.220 – 2.2 seconds shy of the silver.

Overall, five of the seven races saw Rutgers boats post record finishes at the Big Ten Championships (V8, 2V8, V4, 3V4, 2N8), with the three NCAA-qualifying boats earning their first Big Ten medals (V8, 2V8, V4).

Four members of the Scarlet Knights' 1^st Varsity 8 crew earned their first All-Conference honors following the championship races. Emma Hopkins and Luisa Neerschulte have been named First Team All-Big Ten, while Olivia Maxton and Femke Paulis have earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors. Kathleen Butler has been tabbed the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner from Rutgers.

The field for the 2021 NCAA DI rowing championships will be announced Tuesday, May 18 on NCAA.com. The championship finals are May 28-30 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida, featuring 1st Varsity 8, 2nd Varsity 8, and 1st Varsity 4 crews.

"We are looking forward to getting the opportunity to compete at the NCAA Championships in two weeks," Price said.

TEAM RESULTS

Team	Points
No. 6 Michigan	191
No. 7 Ohio State	158
No. 5 Rutgers	143
No. 20 Wisconsin	116
No. 9 Indiana	87
No. 15 Minnesota	80
Iowa	55
Michigan State	30