The UW women's rowing team won the program's first Big Ten Rowing Championship Saturday on Lake Ovid in Laingsburg, Mich. The Badgers took the title by out-rowing the seven other teams participating in four of six events.
The second varsity-eight boat, varsity-four, novice-eight and second novice-eight all grabbed titles in the event for the conference's oldest women's rowing program. Wisconsin claimed the championship with a total of 148 points. Michigan State followed in second with 132 points, and Michigan grabbed third place scoring 111.
Battling strong tailwinds all day, the varsity-eight grabbed a second place finish to secure the championship in the final race of the afternoon, while the UW second varsity-eight won their second title in the past three years.
The 148 points accumulated by Wisconsin Saturday were the third most in the history of the event, and just two shy of the all time record. Prior to 2010, the best finish for the Badgers in the women's conference championship was second place in 2004.
The rowing team will be off for one weekend before returning to the water for the 2010 NCAA South/ Central Regional May 15-16 in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report
