Spartans 15th at Head of the Charles
10/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Michigan State's varsity eight competed at the 52nd annual Head of the Charles Regatta this weekend, and raced to a 15th place finish among the 33 entries in the Championship Eights event on Sunday in Cambridge, Mass.
MSU brought its varsity eight to this regatta for the second straight season. The varsity eight consists of sophomore coxswain Hannah Worth; junior stroke Becca Uebele, No. 7. Brianna Higgins, No. 6. Brook Edgar (Sr.,), No. 5. Nicole Marek (Jr., ) No 4. Meaghan Faucher (So.) No. 3 Lindsey Klei (Jr. ) No 2. Kasidy Higgins (Jr.) and bow seat Monica Hessler (Sr.). Uebele, Brianna Higgins, Edgar, and Marek competed at HOCR for the second straight year, and earned an 11th place finish in 2015.
The weather was a concern for Regatta organizers late in the week, with forecasts calling for rain and wind gusts that could reach 25-30 mph throughout the day on Sunday. This created challenging conditions for all of the Regatta entries, but head coach Matt Weise thought that his crew handled it admirably.
"The conditions were quite rough today, but I thought they handled them well," said Weise. "The takeaway was that they were happy with how they raced but not the result. They did a good job of executing their plan and staying in rhythm throughout the race â€" this will serve them well in the Spring. I think that we're progressing well this fall and we're excited to keep training and building for the spring season.
The top two finishers â€" from Cambridge Boat Club and New York AC â€" each featured several Olympic rowers, and Cambridge won the race in a time of 16:30.368. Yale was the top collegiate crew, finishing third, (16:47.046). MSU was clocked in a time of 17:46.080 over the three-mile course (4,800 meters), which is more than double the customary 2,000 meter race the Spartans will undertake in the spring dual racing season. MSU was right behind the University of Virginia and finished one place ahead of Big Ten rival Minnesota.
The Head of the Charles, now having completed its 52nd annual event, is the largest two-day regatta in the world. More than 11.000 athletes compete, filling 1,900 boats in 61 events. From novice to masters, rowers aged 14 to 85 competed in the three-mile head race which attracts more than 300,000 spectators to the banks of the Charles River during Regatta weekend.
Players Mentioned
