Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
NCAA Semifinals
Spartan Eight Contends for NCAA Title on Sunday
5/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
May 28, 2011
Gold River, Calif. - Michigan State's varsity eight, the four-time defending Big Ten champion, will race for a National Championship on Sunday morning on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif. The Spartans will race for its first-ever National Championship in its third trip to the Grand Finals in program history.
MSU is the only Big Ten school in the varsity eight grand final, and is one of six schools with a chance to bring home a National Championship. The marquee race of the NCAA Championsip, the varsity eight races for a title at 12:05 p.m. Sunday (PT).
"It was a good race from our top boat today, and our second eight did a nice job, too," said head coach Matt Weise. "Tomorrow is our last day of racing for the year, and the varsity eight accomplished, so far, what they have set out to do. Sunday will be an exciting day for us."
The Spartan varsity eight will row in Sunday's Grand Final, thanks to a third-place finish in its semifinal on Saturday morning. MSU turned in the fourth fastest time of any boat on the day - the winner of the first heat, USC, was just a second faster than MSU at its finish. The second heat of varsity eights was a fast one; Brown was the leader early, with MSU and Stanford fractions of a second apart as the boats crossed the 500 meter mark. Stanford made a move to challenge race leader Brown in the second 500, leaving MSU about a half-length back from the Cardinal at the midpoint of the race. The Spartans were doing a nice job of holding off Yale throughout the heart of the race, never letting the Elis get within four seats, and slowly building a more significant lead over Yale as the race wore on. The Elis, who have shown great effort in the sprint to change the complexion of races, could never move on the Spartans, as MSU continued to pad its lead to an open-margin water over Yale at the finish. Stanford used a move of its own to surpass Brown in the final 500 meters, clocking in a time of 6:21.68, two seats ahead of the Bears; MSU was just over a length behind securely in third place to earn a spot in Sunday's Grand Final.
"Our varsity boat now has shred the pressure of getting into the Grand Finals - they earned their way in with two really good days of racing, and they all feel like they have another gear, another level that they can reach tomorrow," said Weise after the race. "They feel that pressure is released - that they can just go all out, and leave everything out on the course. We're looking forward to racing tomorrow."
The second varsity eight will be racing in the Petite final after a fifth-place finish on Saturday morning in their heat. Positioned in the sixth lane - which has proven over the course of the championships to be a challenging lane in which to race - the Spartans fell behind Michigan by a half-length at the 500 meter mark. Brown led Virginia wire-to-wire at the front of the pack; the Bears had a half-length lead by the 500 meter mark and let the Cavaliers no closer as they navigated the course. Brown turned on the jets in the final 500 to post a four-second margin over Virginia at the finish. Princeton, which sat in third place throughout most of the race, could not hold off a pressing USC in the sprint, and the Women of Troy edged the top-ranked Tigers by four-hundreths of a second to claim the third and final spot in Sunday's Grand Final. Meanwhile, the Spartans waged their own war with Big Ten archrival Michigan in the outer lanes, as MSU turned a half-length discrepancy after 750 meters into a near-even race at the 1000, about a seat at the 1500 meter mark, and moved ahead of the Wolverines for good in the final 500 meters. At the finish line, the Spartans were about a length of open water ahead of Michigan.
"I thought our second varsity raced well today," said Weise after his second boat had finished its race. "Sometimes, you just have boats that are faster than yours, and some of those boats were in our semifinal heat today. However, I really thought that they did a nice job of battling back after falling behind Michigan midway through the race, and by the finish had beaten them decisively. It was a boat that they had lost to at Big Tens, so there's some vindication in that. Tomorrow, they'll get another shot at Wisconsin, who also beat them at Big Tens. There's plenty of motivation for tomorrow's race, that's for sure."
MSU's Sunday raceday begins at 9:50, when the varsity four races in the third-level final. Harvard will be in lane one, with Michigan State in lane two, and Clemson and Dartmouth in lanes three and four, respectively. The Petite Final for the second varsity eight goes off at 10:55, and the Spartans will be in lane three. Washington and Princeton have claimed lanes one and two, and the Spartans will line up next to Wisconsin in lane four, as well as Michigan, Washington State, and Yale.
The Grand Finals of the varsity eight - the marquee race of the Championship - begins at 12:05, and is the final race of the day. MSU will be in lane six, and will line up with Stanford, Princeton, Brown, and California. The Spartans are aiming for their best-ever finish in the varsity eight - on two previous occasions, MSU has finished sixth (2006, 2008). The varsity eight has won the Petite final the last two seasons at the National Championships.
Saturday NCAA Championship Regatta Results
Varsity Eight:
Semifinal Heat 1: (1) USC 6:26.60; (2) Princeton 6:28.34; (3) Cal 6:31.04; (4) Washington 6:37.37; (5) Virginia 6:37.91; (6) Wisconsin 6:41.46.
Semifinal Heat 2: (1) Stanford 6:21.68; (2) Brown 6:22.66; (3) Michigan State 6:27.71; (4) Yale 6:32.26; (5) Washington State 6:37.21; (6) Michigan 6:57.63.
Second Varsity Eight:
Semifinal Heat 1: (1) Brown 6:36.90; (2) Virginia 6:40.34; (3) USC 6:42.04; (4) Princeton 6:42.08; (5) Michigan State 6:47.59 ; (6) Michigan 6:55.46.
Semifinal Heat 1: (1) Stanford 6:36.04 ; (2) Cal 6:40.25; (3) Ohio State 6:43.89; (4) Washington 6:47.34 ; (5) Wisconsin 6:49.01; (6) Washington State 6:50.05 ; (7) Yale 6:53.99.
