MSU Rowing Well Represented In CRCA Honors

May 27, 2008

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) announced it Regional first and second team selections as well as 2008 Scholar Athletes Tuesday afternoon, and five Spartans appear on the Central Region First and Second Teams, while seven were named 2008 Scholar Athletes. The five athletic and seven academic honors are the most earned in a single season in each category for the Spartans. In 2002, four Spartans were named to the regional team, and in 2007, six rowers were scholar athletes.

Joanna Brown, Kate Burdick, Anne Cowan and coxswain Katie Bitz were honored as regional first-team recipients, while Emily Regan earned a second-team nod. The honor is the first for each Spartan.

All five rowers have been staples this season on MSU's sixth-ranked varsity eight boat. Bitz has coxed the Spartans top boat for two years, and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team - as were Brown and Cowan - after leading MSU to its second Big Ten Title in program history. Brown has served as the Spartan's No. 7 seat all season, while Cowan has split time between seats four and six. Burdick most recently occupies the bow for Michigan State, anchoring the veteran squad. Regan - a second team honoree on both the CRCA All-Region and the All-Big Ten lists - has filled the fifth seat for the Spartans all season. The V8 squad also helped MSU capture its first-ever Central Sprints title.

Among the academic selections, Burdick and Brown are three-time scholar athletes, while sophomore Lauren Gamble, junior Sarah Schmidt and senior Tamara Yantovsky are two-time recipients. Joining the veteran class are first-time honorees, sophomores Megan Kursik and Victoria Woodard.

Schmidt - along with Burdick and Brown - is a member of the sixth-ranked varsity eight squad, while Kursik and Yantovsky help man the second varsity eight. Gamble strokes the undefeated varsity four boat.

CRCA Scholar Athletes must be at least a her second year of eligibility, as well as have met minimum participation guidelines set by the NCAA. Academically, the rower must have at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA for her career.

Michigan State heads to California for the 2008 NCAA Championships this weekend (May 30-June 1) on Lake Natoma in Sacramento.