Opening Day Racing A Solid One For Spartan Crews
3/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Michigan State began its 2017 season on Saturday with two of the three sessions of the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. MSU had five boats in action, and saw both positive results and growth in all of its entries.
"I thought today was a really positive way to open the season," said head coach Matt Weise. "We were happy with how they approached our training over this spring break and how they made the adjustments that we talked about between sessions. Our crews executed well, so we'll be looking for them to build upon that when we get to the course for Sunday's races."
The varsity eight finished second behind Virginia (6:32.563) in the morning session by six seconds, clocked in a time of 6:38.751. while finishing open water ahead of Notre Dame (6:46.557) and West Virginia (7:03.421). In the afternoon, MSU won its heat in a time of 6:38.388, ahead of Big Ten foe Minnesota (6:49.935), Clemson (6:52.966) and West Virginia (7:04.629).
The second eight had the same finishes - second place behind Virginia in the morning heat and a heat victory in the afternoon. The Spartan second eight checked in with a time of 6:48.67, which was six seats ahead of Notre Dame (6:51.198) and open water over West Virginia (7:14.418). In the afternoon, MSU (6:51.429) edged Clemson by just under a half length (6:53.198), and then had open water over the Golden Gophers and Mountaineers.
In the Novice eight, MSU was just a half length back on the Cavaliers, (6:50.302-6:52.551), as the two crews raced down the course leaving both Notre Dame (7:11.514) and West Virginia (7:50.004) behind. In the afternoon, the Spartan novices were in a race against themselves, as their time of 6:58.875 was more than 45 seconds ahead than the Mountaineers (7:44.263) and better than 1:20 ahead of Tennessee.
The second novices raced just once, on Saturday afternoon - they were nine seconds back in second place (7:09.409) behind the Notre Dame first novice eight (7:00.218), but still open water ahead of Kansas (7:24.519) and Tennessee (7:44.647).
MSU's four, which had some late lineup changes, had a pair of third-place finishes on Saturday, behind both Virginia and Notre Dame in the morning session (7:51.070) and behind Minnesota and Clemson (7:54.263) in the afternoon. MSU held a half-length lead over West Virginia in the morning race, and improved the margin to open water in the afternoon.
Racing concludes in Oak Ridge on Sunday morning . MSU participates in the first set of heats on the day, against Virginia, Michigan, and Tennessee.
2017 OAK RIDGE CARDINAL INVITATIONAL
March 11-12, 2017 • Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Varsity Eight:
Saturday Morning: 1. Virginia 6:32.563; 2. Michigan State 6:38.751; 3. Notre Dame 6:46.557; 4. West Virginia 7:03.421
Saturday Afternoon: 1. Michigan State 6:38.388; 2. Minnesota 6:49.935; 3. Clemson 6:52.966; 4. West Virginia 7:04.629
Second Varsity Eight:
Saturday Morning: 1. Virginia 6:37.005; 2. Michigan State 6:48.672; 3. Notre Dame 6:51.924; 4. West Virginia 7:14.418
Saturday Afternoon: 1. Michigan State 6:51.429; 2. Clemson 6:53.198; 3. Minnesota 6:56.154; 4. West Virginia 7:06.388
Varsity Four:
Saturday Morning: 1. Virginia 7:19.491; 2. Notre Dame 7:29.977; 3. Michigan State 7:51.070; 4. West Virginia 7:53.521
Saturday Afternoon: Minnesota 7:33.504; 2. Clemson 7:36.603; 3. Michigan State 7:54.263; 4. West Virginia 8:02.552
Third Varsity Eight/ Novice Eight:
Saturday Morning: 1. Virginia 6:50.302; 2. Michigan State 6:52.551; 3. Notre Dame 7:11.514; 4. West Virginia 7:50.004
Saturday Afternoon: 1. Michigan State 6:58.975; 2. West Virginia 7:44.263; 3. Tennessee 8:21.053
Second Novice Eight::
Saturday Afternoon: 1. Notre Dame 7:00.218; 2. Michigan State 7:09.409; 3. Kansas 7:24.519; 4. Tennessee 7:44.647