Michigan State University
Head of the Grand
Crew Posts Sweeping Victory At Head Of The Grand
10/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Oct. 17, 2004
LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's crew dominated on the water at the 2004 Head of the Grand in Lansing's Grand River Park on Sunday morning. The Spartans, who faced Eastern Michigan, Grand Valley State, Northern Michigan and the MSU club squad, swept their competition to capture first-place finishes in all seven women's rowing events of the day.
"The goal that the team set for itself today was, not only to row hard, but to row well," said MSU head coach Matt Weise. "The team was able to execute really well. We have been stressing technical improvements in practice and that paid off today."
The Head of the Grand entailed a 3,500 km (two-mile) racecourse down the Grand River. Fall-season races, also known as head races, feature a stagger-start format, in which start and finish times are recorded and finish places are determined based on elapsed time.
Affiliated with the MSU crew program is the Pink Ribbon Crew, which also participated in racing at the Head of the Grand on Sunday. MSU assistant coach Stacey Rippetoe founded PRC, a program established to teach breast cancer survivors how to row. Rippetoe and a slew of volunteer assistants from the varsity squad make up the PRC coaching staff.
Competition began with the women's open four race, in which State's A-Flight boat garnered a top finish with a time of 12:26. The B-Flight Spartan four came in second, posting a 12:36 finish, followed by Grand Valley in 12:49.
The Head of the Grand marked State's novice squad's first opportunity to race and the novices enjoyed tremendous success in their collegiate debut. MSU's A- and B-Flight novice eights finished first (12:15) and second (12:57), respectively, as well.
"I'm really excited with the novice performance today," said Spartan novice coach Christiina Tymoszewicz. "They knew what they wanted to achieve and they were able to do it. For their first race situation, I was very impressed with how they handled themselves."
In the open singles events, Spartan juniors Erin Robertson and Christen Brown finished within just one second of one another and crossed the finish line in 14:14 and 14:15, respectively.
In the second open four event of the day, MSU posted two top finishes for the third straight women's event. The C-Flight Spartan four finished in 12:42, while the D-Flight Green and White boat posted 12:53. Eastern Michigan's C-Flight four came in third, with a time of 13:09.
MSU dominated in the novice four event, with a performance that earned them a 13:13 finish time. Northern Michigan's A-Flight novice came in second, posting a time of 14:03.
Spartans teamed up to control the doubles race and a Paula Thoms-Jenna Peters sophomore duo took first in 12:20. Senior Jasmine Pickler and junior Ashley Johnson captured second place in 14:30, while a Northern double rounded out the event with a 16:21 finish.
MSU topped the second round of novice eights, with its C-Flight shell, recording a finish of 12:59, good for first place.
State secured a top victory in its main event, the varsity eight, with a 10:48 finish for the A-Flight shell. MSU's B-Flight varsity eight came in second, crossing the finish line in 11:16, followed by Eastern's A-Flight eight in 11:22.
"We are already really excited for our next race," said Weise. "Practice leading up to that event is going to be a lot of fun, because we are looking forward to another great matchup."
Next, MSU heads to Elkhart, Ind., for the Head of the Elk regatta on Sunday, Oct. 31.
COMPLETE RESULTS
Bow Number Start Finish TimeWomen's Open 41 MSUA 9:00:00 9:12:26 0:12:266 MSU B 9:01:20 9:13:56 0:12:365 GVSU A 9:01:10 9:13:59 0:12:492 EMU A 9:00:16 9:13:18 0:13:0210 NMU B 9:02:23 9:15:27 0:13:043 MSUclub A 9:00:35 9:13:46 0:13:117 EMU B 9:01:42 9:14:57 0:13:154 NMU A 9:00:53 9:14:55 0:14:029 GVSU C 10:41:50 11:03:28 0:21:38Mens Open 411 MSUclubA 9:19:50 9:31:02 0:11:1212 GVSUA 9:20:08 9:31:45 0:11:3714 MTU A 9:20:43 9:32:22 0:11:3915 GVSU B 9:20:58 9:33:01 0:12:0318 MSUclub B 9:22:04 9:34:09 0:12:0516 MTU A 9:21:28 9:33:37 0:12:0913 NMU A 9:20:26 9:33:14 0:12:4817 NMU B 9:21:51 9:36:03 0:14:12
Men's Novice 820 GVSU A 9:37:25 9:48:31 0:11:0621 NMU A 9:37:45 9:49:11 0:11:2623 MSUclubA 9:38:06 9:50:13 0:12:0724 GVSUB 9:38:45 9:51:10 0:12:2525 MSUclubB 9:39:06 9:52:12 0:13:06
Novice Women's 829 NMU A 0:10:01 INCOMPLETE26 MSU A 9:59:43 10:11:58 0:12:1531 MSU B 10:01:51 10:14:48 0:12:5728 GVSU A 10:00:26 10:13:39 0:13:1330 MSU club A 10:04:05 10:17:49 0:13:4435 MSU club B 10:03:53 10:17:39 0:13:4627 EMU A 10:00:05 10:13:55 0:13:5034 NMU B 10:03:19 10:17:24 0:14:0533 EMU B 10:03:07 10:18:39 0:15:3232 GVSU B 10:15:19 10:15:19
Open Singles40 GVSU 10:20:11 10:32:46 0:12:3541 MTU 10:20:23 10:33:13 0:12:5042 Anderson 10:20:40 10:33:30 0:12:5045 Campau 10:25:32 10:38:32 0:13:0043 Heathcote 10:21:06 10:34:37 0:13:3139 Robertson 10:20:03 10:34:17 0:14:1436 Brown 10:19:28 10:33:43 0:14:1547 Delaney 10:21:44 10:36:27 0:14:4346 Pauls 10:21:36 10:36:35 0:14:5938 Harp 10:19:55 10:35:33 0:15:3844 Vandevliet 10:21:27 10:38:09 0:16:4237 NMU 10:19:46 10:45:02 0:25:16
Women's Open 4+ (C and D Flights)48 MSU C 10:39:57 10:52:39 0:12:4252 MSU D 10:40:47 10:53:40 0:12:5349 EMU C 10:40:10 10:53:19 0:13:0954.5 MSU club D 10:50:13 11:03:28 0:13:1553 EMU D 10:40:59 10:54:18 0:13:1950 GVSU C 10:40:30 10:53:50 0:13:2054 GVSU D 10:41:23 10:55:38 0:14:1551 MSU Club C 10:40:58 10:56:19 0:15:21Women's Novice 4 +55 MSU A 10:50:32 11:03:45 0:13:1356 NMU A 10:50:53 11:04:56 0:14:0359 NMU B 11:04:02 11:18:50 0:14:4858 MSU club A 11:03:31 11:18:22 0:14:5157 NMU C 11:03:13 11:19:01 0:15:48Men's Novice 8+ (C-F Flights)60 GVSU 10:58:22 11:10:33 0:12:1122 MTU 11:00:05 11:12:26 0:12:21 MSU Club E 11:06:19 AM 11:19:40 0:13:2162 MSU club D 10:59:08 11:12:30 0:13:2261 MSU club C 10:58:55 11:13:23 0:14:28Open 2X63 Thoms/Peter 11:41:21 11:54:41 0:13:2065 Pickler/Johnson 11:42:16 11:56:46 0:14:3064 NMU 11:42:05 11:58:26 0:16:21
Novice Men's 4+68 NMU A 11:49:12 12:01:50 0:12:3870 NMU B 11:57:05 12:10:04 0:12:5969 MSU club A 11:49:27 12:02:29 0:13:0267 GVSU A 11:48:57 12:02:12 0:13:15No Bow # NMU C 11:57:31 12:11:32 0:14:01
WECAN ROW71 12:00:24 12:17:53 0:17:2998 12:02:05 12:19:37 0:17:3299 11:59:17 12:17:57 0:18:40
Novice Women's 8 (C-F Flights)72 MSU C 12:20:44 12:33:43 0:12:59
78 NMU 12:22:06 12:35:25 0:13:1979 MSU club E 12:23:44 12:37:49 0:14:0573 MSU club C 12:21:02 12:35:09 0:14:0777 MSU club D 12:22:17 12:36:48 0:14:3174 EMU C 12:20:12 12:35:00 0:14:4875 GVSU C 12:21:19 12:36:22 0:15:03
Varsity Men's 8+80 MSU club A 12:40:15 12:50:29 0:10:1481 GVSU A 12:40:39 12:51:40 0:11:0183 MSU Club B 12:42:06 12:53:39 0:11:3382 NMU A 12:46:31 12:58:12 0:11:41
Women's Varsity 8+85 MSU A 12:59:04 13:09:52 0:10:4890 MSU B 13:02:18 13:13:34 0:11:1686 EMU A 12:59:18 13:10:40 0:11:2295 MSU C 13:02:35 13:13:58 0:11:2391 EMU B 13:00:09 13:11:49 0:11:4087 GVSU A 12:59:39 13:11:25 0:11:4689 MSU Club A 13:00:54 13:13:04 0:12:1093 EMU C 13:00:28 13:12:56 0:12:2888 NMU A 13:00:03 13:12:50 0:12:4794 GVSU B 13:01:28 13:14:20 0:12:5292 MSU club B NO TIME 13:16:45 INCOMPLETE
Players Mentioned
