Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State Varsity Eight Takes Another Step Forward
5/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
May 10, 2000
East Lansing, MICH. - After gaining varsity status three years ago, the Michigan State women's crew has rocketed onto the national rowing scene with phenomenal effort from a dedicated group of young women. This weekend, the Spartans hope to seal their second team bid to the NCAA Collegiate Rowing Championships (May 26-28 in Camden, N.J.) at the Central Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on May 13.
During the crew's inaugural 1997-98 season, MSU became the first school ever to qualify a varsity eight for the NCAA Championships in its first year of collegiate competition. Last season, MSU became just the second school to earn a team bid to the Championships during its second year of competition. This year, the Spartans have looked to pick up where they left off, and continue to improve their performance on the national level.
The MSU varsity eight entered the 1999-2000 season with high expectations. After a strong fall season, the Spartans entered the spring ranked eighth in the country, according to the US Rowing and Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association preseason poll.
However, after struggling during the 2000 San Diego Crew Classic (April 1-2), the varsity eight saw its ranking drop to 16th in the US Rowing and CRCA poll, released April 5.
MSU head coach Bebe Bryans said although the varsity eight did struggle at the beginning of the spring season, it was not from a lack of effort or belief in each other.
"They struggled and it took a shake up of a not very good performance in San Diego to get everybody to refocus," Bryans said. "It wasn't a negative thing - they were almost trying too hard."
That refocused effort paid off, and the varsity eight went on to defeat Iowa (No. 17) on April 15, and No. 7 ranked Michigan on April 16. After defeating the two Big Ten foes, the varsity eight was named Big Ten Boat of the Week on April 18 and soared to No. 9 in the April 19 national poll, while the Wolverines dropped to No. 10.
"I was very pleased, but not surprised at the boat's turnaround after San Diego," Bryans said. "There was something that just clicked, and it was like a light switch coming on. They went out for a row, and came back a completely different boat. It was great!"
The following weekend the varsity eight defeated Washington State (No. 16) and Clemson on April 22, and was named the Co-Big Ten Boat of the Week along with Wisconsin. Although it finished second behind Michigan at the inaugural Big Ten Rowing Championships on April 29, the boat awaits another match up with the Wolverines at the Central Championships.
The MSU varsity eight is currently ranked No. 9 nationally, according to the May 10th US Rowing and CRCA poll.
MSU junior Jennifer Czar said that the varsity eight must keep its goals from the beginning of the year in mind. "We can't allow ourselves to be satisfied and we always have to want more in order to achieve greater things," said Czar. "In crew, as soon as you get satisfied, you lose your edge."
Bryans believes the biggest challenge for the varsity eight this season was knowing that they had another big step left in them.
"We'd taken big steps each of the previous two years, and they worked so incredibly hard during those two years, that the challenge was believing they had that much of a jump left in them," Bryans said.
Although the varsity eight has taken a giant step forward during the past two months, Bryans doesn't believe that it has reached its full potential.
"My expectations are that they continue to and improve upon their belief in themselves," Bryans said. "If they do that, they will get faster, and they can still get faster if they believe that they can."
MSU senior co-captain Elizabeth Shuster feels that in order for the boat to improve upon last season's NCAA Championship performance, the crew must pull harder.
"We need to expect more out of ourselves. We've done the work, so now it's just a matter of letting it come out when it needs to," Shuster said.
