Spartan Rowing Set for South/Central Regionals

May 15, 2008

THIS WEEK AT REGIONALS
After capturing the 2008 Big Ten Championship in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Spartans are poised to make a confident return to the NCAA Regatta this spring. the No. 5 Spartans head into the South/Central Regional (May 17-18) looking to take top finishes, and hoping to emerge as a top contendor for the 2008 NCAA Championship Regatta.

Prelimary heats on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn., begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, followed by the regional semifinals at 2 p.m. The final races are scheduled for 9 a.m. on Sunday. The full race schedule can be found on page 6.

The Spartans' varsity four crew received the top seed heading into the Regional, while the varsity eight and open four boats are second seeds. The second varsity eight and novice four crews enter the weekend as third seeds. Full regional seedings are listed on page 5.

Michigan State has participated in every regional regatta - this is it's 11th-straight appearance - since becoming a varsity sport in 1998. The Spartans have twice finished second as a team (1999, 2000), while they own two individual race first-place finishes: 1999's second varsity four crew and 2003's second varsity eight boat both finished first in their grand finals.

Last year, the Spartans finished 8th with 301 points, led by a team-best fourth-place finish by the second varsity eight. Roz Bialczak was the only Spartan to earn postseason regional honors as she was named to the CRCA Central Region First Team.

MSU CLAIMS BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Michigan State captured the 2008 Big Ten Rowing title on May 3 in Ann Arbor, Mich., winning three individual event titles and finishing second in two other races. The varsity eight won its second Big Ten title in school history and helped the Spartans to their second team title as well - both had previously won in 2005. With 150 team points, Michigan State tied the all-time points record in the Big Ten Championships, tying Minnesota's 150 it scored last season in its title run.

Five athletes received All-Big Ten recognition: Anne Cowan, Katie Bitz, and Joanna Brown were named to the First Team, while Kate Burdick and Emily Regan were Second Team selections. Ashley Peach was Michigan State's Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree.

SPARTANS SWEEP BIG TEN AWARDS
Days after capturing their second Big Ten Title in four years, the Spartans swept the conference's major awards. Senior Anne Cowan was honored as the Athlete of the Year, Laura Cowal nabbed the Freshman of the Year award, and Spartan head coach Matt Weise was named the 2008 Big Ten Conference's Coach of the Year, as announced by the league office on May 7.

Cowan and Cowal are both members of MSU's fifth-ranked varsity eight crew, which finished first at the Big Ten Championship on May 3. Previously in her career, Cowan as the 2005 Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Weise coached the Spartans to a program-best sixth-place team finish at the NCAA Championship in 2006, an effort that included the varsity eight's sixth-place finish, marking the highest varsity eight placing for MSU. In his first season at the helm of MSU's program in 2005, Weise led the Green and White to its first-ever Big Ten Championship, while being recognized as the Big Ten Coach of the Year and the Central Region's Coach of the Year.

BIG TEN BOATS OF THE WEEK
MSU has twice been named the conference's Boat of the Week this season.

The varsity four was named Co-Boat of the Week after opening the season with a win over Princeton and Brown on Saturday, March 29. The Spartans share the April 1 honor with Indiana's varsity eight crew.

MSU's crew began the year racing in 2,000-meter heats through strong headwinds and whitecaps on Carnegie Lake in Princeton, N.J. The varsity four took first place by clocking a time of 8:29.8 against the Tigers and Bears. The crew of Nancy Diehl, Allison Duffy, Sarah Kreft, Clare Vandelinder and Ashley Wenneman finished more than 15 seconds ahead of Brown (8:44.9), while Princeton's boat finished at 9:08.4.

The varsity eight posted wins over Louisville and No. 15 Minnesota on April 19 en route to claiming the Boat of the Week honor. Michigan's varsity eight also swept the weekend outing against the Golden Gophers and Cardinals to earn a share of the weekly award.

Against the Gophers, the Spartans clocked a time of 5:44.5 in a triumph over Minnesota (5:49.9). In the second race of the day, MSU raced past the Cardinals by nearly seven seconds, finishing with a time of 5:42.32.

ROWING IN THE RANKINGS
Michigan State rowing steadily worked its way into the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/USRowing poll this spring with impressive early wins. In March, the Spartans received votes among the nation's best, but on April 2, MSU broke into the top 10, sitting at No. 8. Since, the Spartans have continued to climb the charts, moving up to currently rank fifth in the country heading into NCAA postseason action.