The men's and women's rowing teams both excelled in competition against Big Ten opponents this past Saturday.
The men, ranked No. 2 in the country, delivered an impressive early spring performance. They welcomed the 19th-ranked Michigan Wolverines to Madison, where the Badgers lived up to their lofty ranking.
In their first meet since November, the men took to the waters of Lake Mendota on Saturday morning, but their return to competition was delayed slightly longer, thanks to the unpredictable April weather.
After about an hour delay, the teams returned to the water on a new course with calmer conditions. Wisconsin's varsity eight boat completed the 2,000-meter course in 5:39.4, more than 10 seconds faster than Michigan's 5:50.2 finish.
The second, third and fourth varsity eight races also went to Wisconsin, as well as both of the freshman eight races. The Badgers won each of these races by at least 11 seconds.
While the men's team was racing at home, the women rowers were in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, racing against No. 4 Michigan and No. 6 Michigan State from the Big Ten, as well as No. 20 Louisville.
Coming off a solid meet in California the previous weekend, the No. 9 Badger women's rowing team put together some impressive performances in Ann Arbor.
In the morning, the Badgers held off Michigan State by a mere .4 of a second in the varsity four race to take the win. The second varsity four came out victorious in both of their races in the morning and the afternoon, beating boats from Michigan State, Michigan and Louisville.
The novice eight also recorded a win in the morning, holding off their competition from Michigan State by three seconds.
The varsity eight and second varsity eight did not earn any victories.
Next weekend, both the men's and women's rowing teams will both be competing in California. The men take on Oregon State on Friday and Washington on Saturday at the Stanford Invitational. The women will be in Gold River and the Lake Natoma Invitational on Saturday and Sunday.
uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
