Courtesy Walt Middleton Photography / provided by OSU athletic department

Courtesy Walt Middleton Photography / provided by OSU athletic department

The top-ranked Ohio State rowing team made history Sunday morning at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, becoming the first team to win an NCAA title in program history.

First-place finishes in both the first varsity four and second varsity eight as well as a third-place finish in the first varsity eight left the Buckeyes with 126 points, two better than runner-up California.

The win makes OSU the first Big Ten team to win an NCAA team title in rowing.

“It’s hard to put into words what it means to win a national championship,” said OSU coach Andy Teitelbaum, in a press release. “The NCAA Championship is a tremendous regatta every year. To be able to walk out of here with the NCAA Championship is unbelievably gratifying and really speaks to the athletes who’ve had a great year.”

The Buckeyes’ first varsity four started the day by winning its second consecutive NCAA title. The squad of Taylore Urban, Sara Handa, Chloe Meyer, Aina Cid-Centelles and coxswain Dara Schnoll crossed the finish line in a time of 7:08.26, just ahead of USC (7:11.02) and Washington (7:12.03).

OSU’s second varsity eight was next in line to race, finishing with a time of 6:27.86, ahead of California (6:29.89) and Brown (6:30.14). The crew of Daphne Socha, Katie Beletskaya, Silvia De Matteis, Stephanie Johnson, Nicole Becks, Lauren Eckles, Samantha Fowle, Catherine Shields and coxswain Amanda Poll earned its first ever NCAA Championship with the victory, closing out the season with a perfect 12-0 record.

The first varsity eight boat of Katie King, Cori Meinert, Eelkje Miedema, Ashley Bauer, Meghan Birkbeck, Allison Elber, Holly Norton, Claire-Louise Bode and coxswain Victoria Lazur placed third in its final competition of the season with a time of 6:23.19. California (6:23.19) and Princeton (6.22.59) finished the competition in first and second, respectively.

In women’s sports, Ohio State has only seen championship wins in pistol and synchronized swimming, which are not NCAA sports, making this the school’s first women’s NCAA Championship victory.