Michigan State University
NCAA Championships
Spartans Attain Highest NCAA Finish in Program History
5/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
May 28, 2006
West Windsor, NJ - Michigan State continued its run to its highest-ever finish at the NCAA Championship Regatta on Sunday, finishing sixth in both its varsity eight race and overall as a team. The Spartans were helped considerably by a Grand Finals appearance by its varsity four and a Petite Final victory by its second varsity, and finished with 40 points as a team, putting MSU sixth in the team standings.
"We felt like we perhaps peaked too early last year, when we won the Big Ten and then were disappointed in our finish in Sacramento," explained Matt Weise, the second-year head coach of the Spartans and who has been on the coaching staff since before the inception of the program's varsity status. "We made some changes to ensure that would not happen this year. The athletes worked very hard to be ready for this championship, and their hard work paid off in our best team finish. They have a lot to be proud of."
Cal defended its team title by the narrowest of margins, edging out Brown by three-tenths of a second in the varsity grand final. Princeton, as expected, ran away with the varsity eight race, and finished behind Brown in the team standings in third place.
The varsity lined up in the Grand Final on Sunday morning, the first-ever appearance by a Spartan varsity in a national championship race. The highly-regarded Tigers had open water at the settle and maintained at least that during the course of the race; Cal and Brown engaged in a tight battle for second place, knowing that their finish would decide the team champion. MSU was as high as fourth in the early stages, but were racing with Washington State and Ohio State for the fourth through six spots, back on the team title challengers. At the end, Washington State was more than a length back on the two sets of Bears crews, and crossed the line in 6:48.06, with Ohio State two seats back in fifth and the Spartans a half a length behind the Buckeyes.
The sixth-place finish for the Spartans was still a program best, its previous high finish eighth in its trip to the NCAA Regatta in 2000.
The second varsity did not let the disappointment of missing the Grand Finals by a fraction of a second carry over to Sunday racing, as the boat led wire-to-wire in a victory in the Petite Final. While all boats were basically even at the settle - the ship-to-shore call deemed the Spartan shell out by a seat, at best - the Spartans made a move to pull out by about three seats at the 500 meter mark. Yale and Washington rounded out the top three a quarter of the way through the race, and the Elis pushed through the Huskies to hold a slight edge for second. MSU had increased its margin over the field to five seats at 750 meters and had nearly a full length as the boats approached the 1000 meter mark.
The Spartans broke contact with the chasing Huskies and Elis by about 1250 meters, but never had much wiggle room as the two trailing boats continued to press. Washington managed to cut two seats off the margin as the boats came up on the 1500 meter buoy. Coming into the final sprint, the Spartans had two boats remain in tight pursuit, but Stanford passed Yale to move into the final three. MSU was determined to finish strong and held off its competition; the Green and White shell crossed the line in a time of 6:57.22, nearly four seats better than Washington (6:58.82) and Stanford (7:00.38), With Yale, Notre Dame, and Tennessee rounding out the finishers. Brown easily rowed to the victory in the Grand Final, finishing with a time of
The varsity four rowed to a sixth-place finish in the Grand Final, crossing the line in a time of 7:54.03; it was the first time that the four had made a Grand, its previous high finish coming in its inaugural team bid in 1999 in Sacramento. Brown won the race in a time of 7:41.10, folloed by Cal, Ohio State, Washington State, and Washington in front of the Spartans.
MSU loses 13 seniors to graduation: Renee Bloome, Sarah Brady, Liz Brenna, Christen Brown, Suzanne Buzell, Julia Craig, Christie Daiss, Daragh Gibson, Ashley Johnson, Kirsten Rasanen, Beth Smith, Kathy Syrowik, and Abby Weiber.
TEAM POINTS STANDING (ties broken by finish by varsity eight)
California 66; Brown 66; Princeton 56; Washington State 52; Ohio State 52; Michigan State 40; Wisconsin 28; Washington 33; Notre Dame 22; Yale 21; Stanford 21; Tennessee 11.
VARSITY EIGHT:
Grand Final: Princeton 6:36.85; Cal 6:43.26; Brown 6:43.52; Washington State 6:48.06; Ohio State 6:49.31; Michigan State 6:51.22
Petite Final: Notre Dame 6:47.54; Minnesota 6:48.5; Washington 6:49.14; Yale 6:49.66; Southern Cal 6:51.16; UCLA 6:56.31; Stanford 7:02.36
SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
Grand Final: Brown 6:48.76; Cal 6:54.37; Wisconsin 6:54.66; Ohio State 6:55; Washington 6:56.17; Princeton 7:00.47.
Petite Final: Michigan State 6:57.22; Washington 6:58.82; Stanford 7:00.38; Yale 7:03.45; Tennessee 7:04.68; Notre Dame 7:05.00
VARSITY FOUR:
Grand Final: Brown 7:41.10; Cal 7:45.35; Ohio State 7:45.35; Washington State 7:46.09; Washington 7:49.33; Michigan State 7:54.03
Petite Final: Princeton 7:49.34; Wisconsin 7:53.41; Stanford 7:57.03; Yale 7:57.03; Notre Dame 8:01.96; Tennessee 8:03.43
Players Mentioned
