Spartans Fall to Gophers, Badgers in Devils Lake Challenge
5/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
East Lansing, Michigan- Michigan State fell to Big Ten rivals Wisconsin and Minnesota on Saturday afternoon, racing both foes at the Devil's Lake Challenge in Baraboo, Wisconsin. It was the final competition for the Spartans before the Big Ten Championships May 15-17 in Indianapolis.
"I'm encouraged by the fact that I think we figured a few things out racing-wise this weekend," said head coach Matt Weise. "The novices had a couple of strong performances again, and the unfortunate thing for the first novice boat was that they caught a crab when they were up on Wisconsin after 500 meters. Both the second varsity eight and varsity four held leads over Minnesota, but couldn't hold it at the end. Our varsity eight didn't handle some rough conditions particularly well, but overall, I think some things finally clicked today. Now, we'll head into finals week, and then look forward to a week dedicated only to training once the stress of finals is behind us. I'm encouraged that we will have that time after finals in our final push before the Big Ten Championships."
The novice eights each beat Minnesota, as the Spartans were open water ahead of the Gophers in the second novice eight race, but behind the host Badgers. In the novice eight, the Spartans caught a crab in the second 500, and despite a strong second half of the race, fell to Wisconsin by four seats, just two seconds behind the Badgers, clocked in a time of 7:18.663 to Wisconsin's 7:16.468. In the four, the Badgers were nearly 30 seconds ahead of both the Gophers and Spartans. The Badgers, ranked No. 13 nationally, swept the day with wins in both the varsity eight races by open water, leaving MSU and the Gophers to battle it out down the course.
The Big Ten Championships will be held on Eagle Creek Reservoir in Indianapolis in two weeks, contested over three days (May 15-17.).
Devil's Lake Challenge - Baraboo, Wisconsin
May 2, 2015
Varsity Eight Wisconsin 6:55.341; Minnesota 7:03.971; Michigan State 7:11.529
Second Varsity Eight Wisconsin 7:09.745; Minnesota 7:18.114; Michigan State 7:24.074
Varsity Four Wisconsin 8:10.252; Minnesota 8:38.052; Michigan State 8:45.380
Novice Eight Wisconsin 7:16.468; Michigan State 7:18.663; Minnesota 7:45.064
Second Novice Eight Wisconsin 7:45.548; Michigan State 7:58.901; Minnesota 8:48.704