No. 3 Rowing Claims Second-Straight Big Ten Title
5/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
May 2, 2009
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Follow MSU's progress all day at the Big Ten Rowing Championships! The morning heats got underway at 8 a.m., with heats every 15 minutes. The afternoon session - which features the Petite and Grand Finals - begins at noon.
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AFTERNOON SESSION - PETITE AND GRAND FINALS
Michigan State advanced five of six boats to the Grand Finals, as did Ohio State. Wisconsin and Michigan have all six entries in the Grand Finals.
12:15 PM - Second Novice Eight Grand Final. MSU in lane three, with Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana
Wisconsin and Michigan were even after 500, with MSU and Indiana also even about three seats behind. By the 1000 meter mark, Wisconsin had moved a couple seats ahead of the Wolverines, but the two opened up their margin on the Spartans and Indiana. The two lead crews battled down to the wire, with Wisconsin (6:36.547) edging out the Wolverines (6:36.645) by a mere second; the Spartans (6:47.921) were third, a half a length over Indiana.
12:45 PM - Novice Eight Grand Final. MSU in lane four, with Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Michigan.
Michigan took an early lead over Wisconsin, but the crews stayed close over the first 500 meters and the Badgers took a two-seat lead over the Wolverines at that point. Ohio State and Michigan State were even early, but the Buckeyes pushed ahead by three seats. Wisconsin pushed out to a four-seat lead by the midpoint, but had open water on fourth-place Michigan State. Wisconsin and Michigan battled it out for the win, as the Badgers took the gold medal in a time of 6:21.478, and Michigan was about three-quarters of a length back. MSU took fourth, with a time of 6:35.958.
1:15 PM - Second Varsity Four Grand Final. MSU in lane two, with Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio State
Wisconsin jumped out to the early lead, with MSU and Michigan trailing. By the 1000 meter-mark, Wisconsin held a half-length lead over the Spartans, who were three seats over Michigan. The Wolverines made a huge move in the next 500, walking through the Spartans to go from three seats down to three seats up on MSU. Michigan attempted to move on Wisconsin, but the Badgers (07:00.595) held off the charge to post a full-length lead over Michigan. MSU was third in a time of 07:07.129, nearly a length behind Michigan.
POINT TOTALS AFTER THREE EVENTS: Wisconsin 35, Michigan 30, Michigan State 23, Ohio State 21, Minnesota 14, Iowa 9, Indiana 6.
1:30 PM - Varsity Four Petite Final. MSU in lane two, with Iowa and Indiana.
Michigan State took an early lead and never looked back, opening up a length lead at the 500 which extended to open water at 1000. The Spartans never looked back, and were clocked in a time of 7:08.08, while Iowa was three lengths behind in 07:17.901. In the Grand Final, Ohio State won the gold medal.
2:15 PM - Second Varsity Eight Grand Final. MSU in lane one, with Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin.
The top-ranked Spartans took a lead in the second 500 and slowly built on it over the course of the race to earn the team's first gold medal of the day. Ohio State took the early lead by about two seats over Michigan State and Michigan, and led by as many four seats. After the 750-meter mark, MSU countered an OSU move and went up by a seat at the midpoint of the race. MSU and Ohio State's moves left Michigan and Wisconsin trailing by open water. Rowing at a consistent 34 through the next 500 meters, the Spartans put some space between themselves and the Buckeyes, while Wisconsin moved ahead of Michigan for third place. The Badgers and Wolverines would wage their own battle for third over the final sprint, with Michigan (6:21.523) eventually edging Wisconsin by a second. MSU added seats to its lead in the final sprint, and posted a final time of 06:15.065, nearly a full length over Ohio State.
POINT TOTALS AFTER FIVE EVENTS: Ohio State 78, Wisconsin 77, Michigan State 74, Michigan 72 , Minnesota 41, Iowa 33, Indiana 15. The team title will, appropriately, be decided in the Grand Final in the varsity eight. Nine points separate each finish in the V8 race: the winner will get 63 points, The second-place finisher 54, etc. The Spartans are still in contention for the team title, trailing by just four points in the team standings.
2:45 PM - Varsity Eight Grand Final. MSU in lane three with Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin.
The Spartans gained an early lead over Ohio State, with Michigan and Wisconsin trailing. The Spartans never conceded seat - while they felt they didn't hava as strong a start as they would have liked, they settled into a cadence of 34 in the second 250 meters, to take a three-seat lead on Ohio State. At the 1000 meter mark, MSU had a comfortable four-seat lead, with Michigan pushing Ohio State for the second spot. While the Wolverines continued to push and fight their way into the second spot, the Spartans never took their foot off the gas, and had a near-length lead at the finish and clocked in at 6:06.296. The Wolverines were second, while Ohio State was third (6:13.746) and Wisconsin fourth (6:17.036).
FINAL POINT TOTALS: Michigan State 137, Michigan 128, Ohio State 113, Wisconsin 113 , Iowa 60, Minnesota 59, Indiana 24.
Michigan State wins back-to-back rowing titles for the first time in school history. The Spartans are just the second Big Ten program to ever win back-to-back titles - Michigan did so in 2000 and 2001, and again in 2003 and 2004. The Spartans won gold medals in both the varsity and second varsity eight races, and finished third in the second varsity four to capture bronze. The Spartans have won two straight gold medals in the varsity eight, matching Michigan (2003, 2004) as the only varsity eight crews to repeat.
MORNING SESSION - HEATS A little bit of a late start to the morning session, so races are approx. 25 minutes behind the scheduled start time. Ship-to-shore radio wasn't operational for the first heat of the second novice eight, so no race details were available.
8 AM: Second Novice Eights, heat one: MSU lines up in lane three, with Ohio State, Michigan, and Minnesota.
MSU finishes second to Michigan in the heat, in a time of 6:48.32. The Wolverines won the race in a time of 6:40.22. The Spartans and Michigan will be joined in the Grand Final by Wisconsin and Indiana.
8:45 AM: Novice Eights, heat two: MSU lines up in lane three, with Ohio State and Iowa.
Ohio State led by a half length after 1,000 meters, with Iowa holding a one-seat lead on the Spartans, but the Spartans made a move in the third 500. The race came down to the Sprint, as Ohio State fell off and the Spartans and Iowa battled out for the second spot. Ohio State won the heat in a time of 06:35.919. The Spartans pulled of the second spot in 06:36.971, just one second ahead of the Hawkeyes (06:37.957). Wisconsin and Michigan advanced to the Grand Finals out of heat one, joining the Buckeyes and Spartans.
9:15 AM: Second Varsity Fours, heat two. Spartans are rowing against Ohio State and Iowa.
No race on the day could be closer! The three crews were fairly even through the first 750 meters, with MSU making a move to go up about two seats over Ohio State. The Buckeyes countered, and held a one-seat lead at the 1000-meter mark. The Hawkeyes started falling back at that point, and OSU built its largest lead - four seats over the Spartans - at about 1250. MSU and the Buckeyes raced down the course, leaving Iowa in its wake. Coming down into the final sprint, the two lead crews battled out for the top spot, and a final stroke at the end put MSU over the finish line just .012 seconds ahead of the Buckeyes. MSU's time was 7:07.412, compared to 7:07.424 for OSU. Wisconsin and Michigan were the top-finishing crews from the first heat, joining OSU and the Spartans in the Grand Final.