Ohio State’s 14th-ranked rowing team will compete in its 11th consecutive NCAA championship this weekend.
OSU will be one of 16 teams in the competition, which Washington State University will host at Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif., Friday through Sunday.
OSU coach Andy Teitelbaum said the journey to the NCAA championships is “the same every year.”
“You fight your way to get to the NCAAs throughout the regular season and when you get there, you’re just really looking to fight your way as far up the ladder as you can in terms of standings,” Teitelbaum said. “I think our first goal is to win the heat or come in the top three in our heat and we’ll start setting our goals from there, one race at a time.”
Teitelbaum coached the previous 10 teams that made NCAA championship appearances.
“It’s obviously a credit to this team to have kept the string going, but it’s also a credit to the 10 teams before us,” he said. “We’ve really achieved a very high level of performance on the national scene. I know it’s something that the current athletes are proud of and, from what we hear from the alumni, it’s something they’re proud of too, being a part of that over the past decade and seeing that level of performance continue.”
Teitelbaum said the 11 consecutive championship appearances can be attributed to consistently recruiting great rowers and continuously seeking the best competition to measure up against.
“I think that those two things that we’ve done have served us well in terms of a consistent level of performance over the years,” he said.
Teitelbaum said that although OSU is one of the lower seeds in the event and they will be facing several crews that have beaten them previously in the season, they hope to exceed expectations and even avenge some of their early-season losses.
Jill Mohr, a junior member of the Second Varsity Eight crew, said the team’s ultimate goal is for all three boats to make it to the grand finals.
“We’re not going to be doing anything too differently,” Mohr said. “We’ve made some line-up changes so hopefully our boats can go faster, but we’re just going to race our race plan and row cleanly. We’ve been working together in the boats the past two weeks since regionals, so hopefully we’re more prepared with our lineups. That should make a difference.”
Teitelbaum said the lineup changes should give the team speed in all three events, but that the Second Varsity Eight looks the most promising.
“The Second Varsity Eight has been one of the top performers in its event throughout the year and I think that boat has seeded the highest out of the three crews, so I think I would probably look for them in terms of a top performer out of our team,” he said.
Mohr said this year’s championships will be a fierce competition and that doing well will be no easy feat.
“It’s the top 16 teams in the nation so everybody is looking to bring in the win and is going to give it their all, so you can’t look past anyone,” she said.
