The Michigan women's crew team will be heading to Charlottesville, Va. this weekend to launch the first official meet of the varsity program's history.
Other teams competing on Saturday include Virginia, George Washington University and Ohio State. The Wolverines will have two varsity teams and will compete only against Virginia and George Washington.
"We are expecting some very competitive races," Michigan coach Mark Rothstein said. "This will be the first real race of the season and racing against (Virginia) will be a good test of our speed."
Virginia is currently ranked first in the Central region - the same region Michigan is entering with a rookie varsity program.
But the underdog Wolverines will not be easy pickings for their established competition.
"They're going to expect us to be a slow starting crew," Michigan rower Heather Uhring said."We've been slow starting up the line in years past, but we're going to start strong on Saturday."
This weekend's results will indicate where the crew team's speed lies and how far they must go to reach their team goals.
Competing well against Virginia, and later this season against Wisconsin, will be a top priority if the rowers want to make it to nationals in their first year as a varsity program.
But Coach Rothstein would rather take things one step at a time and focus on the Regional Qualifying race later this season.
This weekend will be the first step in that direction if the crew team desires to start a winning tradition from their beginning as a varsity sport.
FILE PHOTO
The Michigan crew team will compete in its first official varsity meet this weekend.