Women's Crew Begins Action at NCAA Championships
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
May 28, 1999
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Friday marked the first day of competition at the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif. Michigan State is taking part in the team competition, meaning that three Spartan crews (I varsity eight, II varsity eight and varsity four) are rowing. The highlight of the first day was the first varsity eight winning its repechage (the "second chance") race to advance to the semifinals on Saturday morning.
The first varsity eight was the first Spartan crew to race at 9:20 a.m. The Spartans placed fifth out of sixth in their heat with a time of 7:11.87. Princeton won the heat at 6:54.40. Since they did not finish among the top two in the heat, the Spartans advanced to Friday afternoon's repechage.
Knowing they would have to perform better if they were going to eventually reach their goal of making the finals, the Spartans jumped out to an early start in the Friday afternoon race. After 500 meters in the 2,000 meter race, Michigan State had over a one second lead on Massachusetts. Over the next 500 meters, MSU once again turned in the fastest split to maintain a slight lead. Dartmouth would make a strong charge and cut the lead to half a second with 500 meters left to row. Michigan State then turned in a strong last burst to reach the finish line ahead of the other crews (7:10.22) and advance to Saturday morning's semifinal. There are 19 boats in the first varsity eight competition.
Head coach Bebe Bryans was pleased with the performance in the afternoon race.
"The afternoon race was rowed very well on our part," said Bryans. "The women executed the race plan with confidence and poise. They had some very experienced crews around them (Harvard and UMASS), crews that beat them last year at nationals and that we had never beaten before. But they were extremely confident and in control of the piece from start to finish. They're feeling good about the fight they're ready to put up tomorrow to get into the finals."
The next crew to see action during the morning session was the second varsity eight. It placed fourth in its heat of five with a time of 7:08.76. Virginia won the heat at 6:51.54. Michigan State will next see action in Saturday morning's repechage, in which it will attempt to qualify for Sunday's final.
The last boat to race in the morning was the varsity four. Michigan State finished fifth with a time of 8:18.28. First place Brown crossed the line at 7:32.20. The varsity four will now row in Saturday morning's repechage. There are 10 boats in both the second varsity eight and varsity four competition.
"Both the second varsity eight and four had fair races, but should fare better tomorrow now that they know what they're up against," said Bryans. "None of these women have ever been to a regatta of this magnitude or depth of speed before."
This is the first year that Michigan State has sent an entire team to the rowing championships. Last year, MSU had a varsity eight finish ninth out of 16 entries.
Advancement in the NCAA Championship works as follows. The top two boats from each heat of the varsity eight advanced directly to semifinal action on Saturday while the top two boats of each heat in the second varsity eight and fours advanced directly to Sunday's grande final. The remaining first varsity eights took part in the Friday afternoon repechage while the remaining second varsity eights and fours return to action in a repechage on Saturday morning. In the first varsity eight repechage, the top three crews in each race advanced to the semifinals while the remaining boats will race for places 13-19 on Saturday. In the varsity four and second varsity eight repechages, the top two crews will advance to the finals while the remaining four boats will battle for places 7-10.
Action resumes on Saturday morning with the varsity four repechage beginning at 10 a.m., PDT.
WOMEN'S ROWING CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
First Varsity Eight Heat 1 1. Washington 6:52.74* 2. Northeastern 6:56.37* 3. Dartmouth 7:02.84 4. Wisconsin 7:13.17 5. California-Davis 7:15.25 6. Williams 7:21.04 7. Marietta 7:30.65 Heat 2 1. Princeton 6:54.40* 2. Michigan 6:55.20* 3. Harvard 7:01.20 4. Boston University 7:10.86 5. MICHIGAN STATE 7:11.87 6. Oregon State 7:12.20 Heat 3 1. Brown 6:55.28* 2. California 6:57.01* 3. Virginia 6:57.31 4. Massachusetts 6:59.28 5. Southern California 7:21.99 6. William Smith 7:31.88
Second Varsity Eight Heat 1 1. Virginia 6:51.54& 2. Brown 6:58.40& 3. Wisconsin 7:08.05 4. MICHIGAN STATE 7:08.76 5. Boston University 7:12.58 Heat 2 1. Washington 6:56.41& 2. Princeton 7:00.47& 3. Michigan 7:03.24 4. Harvard 7:09.04 5. California 7:14.35
Varsity Four Heat 1 1. Brown 7:32.20& 2. Michigan 7:36.78& 3. Boston University 7:39.48 4. Princeton 7:57.70 5. MICHIGAN STATE 8:18.28 Heat 2 1. Washington 7:30.59& 2. Harvard 7:35.91& 3. Virginia 7:38.20 4. Wisconsin 8:05.00 5. California 8:10.75
First Varsity Eight Repechage 1 1. MICHIGAN STATE 7:10.22* 2. Dartmouth 7:11.63* 3. Harvard 7:11.93* 4. Massachusetts 7:12.28 5. Williams 7:25.81 6. William Smith 7:26.60 7. Marietta 7:56.80 Repechage 2 1. Virginia 7:04.20* 2. Southern California 7:05.60* 3. Boston University 7:06.00* 4. Wisconsin 7:13.70 5. Oregon State 7:16.89 6. California-Davis 7:50.10
* - advances to semifinals & - advances to grande final