Rowing Competing at CAA Championships for Final Time

Rowing at CAA Championships
Date	Friday-Saturday, May 16-17 \| 9:30 a.m.
Venue	Pennsauken, N.J. \| Cooper River
Results	Results
Watch Live	FloCollege
Preview Video	Click to watch!
Twitter	@EMURowing \| @EMUAthletics

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University rowing team battles the rest of the Coastal Athletic Association for the final time Friday-Saturday, May 16-17, at the Cooper River. Both days of competition are set to start at 9:30 a.m.

This will mark the final time that EMU will compete as an affiliate member of the CAA as the Mid-American Conference has added rowing ahead of the 2025-26 academic year.

EMU is set to compete Friday in 1V8 Heat 2 at 9:40 a.m., 2V8 Heat 1 at 10 a.m., and 1V4 Heat 2 at 10:20 a.m. The top three boats in each heat will advance to Saturday's Grand Finals while the fourth-place finishers will compete in Saturday's Petite Finals.

Saturday's schedule will include the non-scoring 3V8 Grand Final at 9:30 a.m., the 1V4 Petite Final at 9:40 a.m., the 1V4 Grand Final at 9:50 a.m., the 2V8 Petite Final at 10 a.m., the 2V8 Grand Final at 10:10 a.m., the 1V8 Petite Final at 10:20 a.m., and the 1V8 Grand Final at 10:30 a.m.

The CAAs champion will earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships, which takes place May 30-June 1 in West Windsor, N.J.

CAA BOAT OF THE WEEK: The 1V8+ raced to a 7:13.5 showing against Dayton, May 3, earning Eastern's first race win of the season and helping the Eagles sweep the Flyers to celebrate Senior Day.

DAYTON RECAP: The Eastern Michigan University rowing team celebrated Senior Day by sweeping Dayton at the EMU Rowing Course at Ford Lake Saturday, May 3.

The Eagles finished ahead of the Flyers in each of the three races, which included race wins for Eastern's 1V8+, 3V8+, and 1V4+ boats. Eastern's 1V8+ took care of business in the day's first race, crossing in 7:13.5, 11 seconds ahead of the Eagles' 2V8+, which placed second in the three-boat race in 7:24.6. EMU's 3V8+ squared off against Dayton's 2V8+ as the Eagles cruised to a race win in 7:46.5, nearly 50 seconds ahead of the Flyers. Eastern took the top two spots in the three-boat fours race as the 1V4+ glided to an 8:21.1 finish while the 2V4+ posted an 8:44.7 result. Following the conclusion of the regatta, Eastern Michigan celebrated its nine seniors for their dedication to the program.

FORD LAKE CUP RECAP: In the largest regatta in Ford Lake history, the Eastern's 1V8+ posted the team's top time since 2019 as the Eagles battled seven other schools in the inaugural Ford Lake Cup at the EMU Rowing Course at Ford Lake Saturday, April 26, on a cold, windy day that resulted in the day's final five races being canceled.

Eastern finished tied for fourth as the University of Delaware won the regatta.

Eastern's 1V8+ glided to a blistering 6:37.3 in the heat race before its 6:54.1 in the Grand Final yielded a fifth-place showing. The 6:37.3 effort marked EMU's best mark since April 28, 2019, when the Green and White won the J. Clark Wray Cup Race in 6:17.7.

The Eagles' 2V8+ won its heat race in 6:53.7 before taking third in the Grand Final in 6:59.9.

The 1V4+ rounded out Eastern's boats in 8:08.4 as the high winds forced the cancellation of the 2V4+ race, 3V8+ race, 1V8+ Petite Final, 2V8+ Petite Final, and 1V4+ Petite Final.

MICHIGAN STATE RECAP: Eastern's 1V8+ highlighted EMU's races, nearly breaking seven minutes on the 2,000-meter course, crossing in 7:00.1, April 5.

The Eagles' 2V8+ finished in 7:18.9, giving the visiting Big Ten Conference Spartans its closest race of the day as MSU crossed in 6:56.1.

EMU's 3V8+ finished in 7:49.6, the best time by an Eagle 3V8+ since a 7:26.968 showing May 15, 2022, at the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championships.

The 1V4+ also provided the Spartans with competition as Eastern was less than eight seconds shy of Michigan State's 2V4+. EMU clocked in at 8:05.2, its best 1V4+ mark since finishing in 7:46.621 at the CAA Championships, May 15, 2022.

DOC HOSEA RECAP: EMU competed at the Doc Hosea Invitational on the Cooper River Saturday, March 29.

Eastern's 1V8+ qualified for the Grand Final to highlight the Eagles' efforts, which also included 2V8+ and 1V4+ boats also racing.

The 1V8+ used a 6:41.212 finish in the heat race, placing ahead of CAA foe Temple University en route to qualifying for the Grand Final.

EMU's 2V8+ fell short of the Grand Final as the Eagles placed fifth in the heat race in 7:04.345 while the 1V4+ took third place in the Petite Final (8:07.421) after improving on its heat time (8:10.143).

The Eagles gained valuable experience on the Cooper River as EMU will return to the same venue for the CAA Championships, May 16-17.
SAVAGE PRESIDENT OF CRCA: Head Coach Kemp Savage was named the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association President, April 25, by the organization.
The Chesapeake, Va., native was instrumental in the creation of the EMU Rowing Course at Ford Lake, which is set to host some of rowing's biggest events in the coming years, including RowFest this July 12-20, 2025; and Mid-American Conference Championships for at least the next three seasons.
"It's really great to have been elected by my peers and I want to focus on what we can do to make coaching better and give out better opportunities to build out rowing, as a whole," Savage said. "We want to continue to grow rowing, protect the sport, expand it, and to bring ourselves on par with other sports. The CRCA is a great place to get involved to make rowing better."

SAVAGE AND WILHELM AT WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS: Head Coach Kemp Savage and student-athlete Lily Wilhelm led the United States women's eights boat to the gold medal at the World University Championships, July 3-6, at Willem-Alexander Baan. Savage was Head Coach while Wilhelm rowed in seat three as the American V8 rowed 6:21.64, .67 faster than Italy's 6:22.31, to receive gold in a tight competition. Canada received bronze at 6:25.78.

"Winning is hard to put into words," Savage said. "They raced so maturely and even though for a lot of them it was their first international competition, they just went out and rowed." The Americans used July 4's heat race to advance to July 6's final, avoiding having to exert themselves in a race setting as they surpassed a potential heat race July 5 by having the top heat time. "I did not know we won until we literally crossed the finish line," Wilhelm said. "I was happy to even go and have the opportunity, but to win was just so exciting."

After training on Ford Lake from June 5-30, American student-athletes headed to Rotterdam, Netherlands, to compete July 3-6 against student-athletes from around the globe in the World University Championships at Willem-Alexander Baan, which opened in 2012 and hosted the 2016 World Championships.

ASSISTANT COACH LUCIE ROY: Head Coach Kemp Savage announced Lucie Roy as an Assistant Coach in the fall as she previously served in a volunteer role. Savage, Roy, and Assistant Coach Delaney McGuire and Volunteer Assistant Coaches Haley Dutton and Kellie Savage make up the program's 2024-25 coaching staff.

Roy comes to Eastern after spending the last two seasons as the Head Men's and Women's Rowing Coach at Adrian College.

Roy excelled as a rower at Michigan State University in her three years on the varsity squad, stroking the 1V4+ to a fourth-place effort at the B1G Championships in 2022, the Spartans' highest finish in an NCAA-qualifying event since 2017.

CHARGING TOWARD THE CHAMPIONSHIP: The Eastern Michigan University rowing team secured a trio of top-five finishes in Saturday's Grand Finals at the CAA championships last season, May 17-18, at Cooper River Park as Reagan Fazekas was honored as All-CAA. This year's CAA Championships are scheduled for May 16-17.

MAC ROWING IS COMING: The Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced Thursday, July 18, an addition to its sports lineup as women's rowing will be added beginning with the 2025-26 academic year, increasing the MAC's sponsored championships 23 (13 women / 10 men). With the addition, the MAC will sponsor the third most sports of any FBS Conference (ACC 28, Big Ten 28, Big 12 Conference 23).

The MAC will begin the 2025-26 academic year with six programs competing in women's rowing as Eastern Michigan, Toledo and UMass will be joined by new affiliate members Delaware, High Point and Temple.

The addition of women's rowing as a spring sponsored sport continues to enhance the MAC's stature as one of the leading Division I Conferences in the nation. The first MAC Championship will be held in the spring of 2026, while the Conference plans to host an Invitational event in the spring of 2025. The MAC Championships will be hosted by Eastern Michigan at Lakeside Park on Ford Lake for at least the first three seasons.

EAGLES IN THE CLASSROOM: A total of 18 Eastern Michigan University rowing student-athletes were named Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) National Scholar-Athletes, the association announced Thursday, June 6.

EMU's honorees for the 2024 season were seniors Laura Borchers, Olivia Bray, Reagan Fazekas, Megan Fowler (Belleville, Mich./Belleville), Jessica LaRoy, Christina Lin, Anna Old, juniors Kat Childs (Hanover, Mich./Hanover-Horton), Olivia Hansen (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ann Arbor Skyline), Kaycee Johnson (Artesia, N.M./ Artesia), Carly Summers (Novi, Mich./Novi), Lily Wilhelm (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville (Butler)), and Emma Wyss (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg), sophomores Delani Fisher (Ellettsville, Ind./Bloomington North), Julia Maxwell (Romulus, Mich./Romulus), Ella Warrick (Livonia, Mich./Franklin), and Abigail Zola (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River), and graduate student Chloe Hinojosa (Kewanee, Ill./Kewanee).

ERG ROOM: Eastern Michigan unveiled a newly renovated erg room inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center during the 2022-23 academic year, making the 2023-24 offseason the first in which EMU was able to utilize the room for the entire offseason. Eagle rowers now have access to usable training space that is three times larger than the old space. Additionally, the room can now fit more than 70 ergs and 20 stationary bikes.

CRIMSON TIDE TRADITION: The Eagles have spent their spring break in Tuscaloosa, Ala., 11 times in the last 13 seasons. The only two seasons in which the Green and White did not face off against Alabama were in 2020 (COVID-19 Pandemic) and 2015.

ON THE HORIZON: The CAAs champion will earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships, which takes place May 30-June 1 in West Windsor, N.J.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Laura Borchers

Olivia Bray

Kat Childs

Reagan Fazekas

Delani Fisher

Megan Fowler

Olivia Hansen

Chloe Hinojosa

Kaycee Johnson

Jessica LaRoy

Christina Lin

Julia Maxwell

Anna Old

Carly Summers

Ella Warrick

Lily Wilhelm

Emma Wyss

Abigail Zola

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