Competitive Racing As Expected at B1G Invitational

Michigan State opened a weekend of competitive racing on Friday in Sarasota in the opening sessions of the Big Ten Invitational.

NOTE: The schedule for Saturday's racing has altered slightly, going to eight-minute centers instead of 10-minute. The complete racing schedule as well as live results can be found here.

The competition was as strong as expected, as the field features eight ranked crews and seven others receiving votes.

The Spartan varsity eight went 1-1 against Big Ten opponents, finishing second behind UCLA in the morning race (ahead of Minnesota and UCF), but fell to OSU, No. 19 Alabama, and SMU in the afternoon race. The second varsity eight had a difficult afternoon, catching a crab and finishing behind SMU, OSU and Alabama after finishing behind UCLA, UCF, and Minnesota in the morning.

MSU's novice eights earned a win and two second-place finishes, starting strong with a open-water win in the 3V/N8 over both UCF and Minnesota before finishing second to the Buckeyes and ahead of Alabama in the afternoon. The 4V8/2N was second to OSU and ahead of Rutgers before another all-B1G affair in the afternoon, finishing open water ahead of Wisconsin but behind OSU and Michigan.

MSU's fours had three third-place finishes: two coming in the morning, and one in the afternoon. MSU's top four defeated Minnesota by more than 20 seconds but finished a length behind second-place UCF. In the morning, and then was edged out for a third-place finish by Alabama in the afternoon, (7:26.123 – 7:26.837) . The 2V4 was third in both its races, beating Minnesota by open water in the morning and then was behind OSU and SMU in the second session but took another third-just under half a length ahead of Alabama. MSUs third four was fourth in the day's opener, but bounced back with a third-place finish in an all-B1G afternoon race, behind Ohio State and Michigan but ahead of Wisconsin by nearly 30 seconds.

MSU's Saturday racing begins at 9 am.

Varsity Eight
Friday Morning Session:  1. UCLA 6:39.418; 2. Michigan State 6:44.672; 3. Minnesota 6:45.298; 4. UCF 6:48.775
Friday Afternoon Session: 1. Ohio State 6:20.436; 2. SMU 6:22.878; 3. Alabama 6:29.720; 4. Michigan State 6:40.290 x

Second Varsity Eight
Friday Morning Session:  1. UCLA 6:47.788; 2. UCF 6:49.435; 3. Minnesota 6:53.851 4. Michigan State 6:57.387
Friday Afternoon Session: 1. Ohio State 6:22.054; 2. SMU 6:23.924; 3. Alabama 6:38.160; 4. Michigan State 6:53.342

First Varsity Four
Friday Morning Session:  1. UCLA 7:12.837; 2. UCF 7:16.727; 3. Michigan State 7:20.439; 4. Minnesota 7:43.612
Friday Afternoon Session: 1. SMU 7:18.389; 2. Ohio State 7:23.377; 3. Alabama 7:26.123; 4. Michigan State 7:26.837

Second Varsity Four
Friday Morning Session:  1. UCLA 7:27.377; 2. UCF 7:31.175; 3. Michigan State 7:34.357; 4. Minnesota 7:46.373
Friday Afternoon Session: 1. Ohio State 7:17.186; 2. SMU 7:28.260; 3. Michigan State7:38.876; 4. Alabama 7:40.098

Third Varsity Four
Friday Morning Session:  1. Ohio State 7:14.847; 2. Rutgers 7:16.039; 3. SMU 7:25.437; 4. Michigan State 7:43.531
Friday Afternoon Session: 1. Ohio State 7:24.581; 2. Michigan 7:39.828; 3. Michigan State 7:44.367; 4. Wisconsin 8:13.158

Novice Eight (racing in 3V8 ):
Friday Morning Session:  1. Michigan State 6:56.977; 2. UCF 7:05.957; 3. Minnesota 7:10.339
Friday Afternoon Session: 1. Ohio State 7:00.252; 2. Michigan State 7:13.277; 3. Alabama 7:17.574

Second Novice Eight (racing in 4V8):
Friday Morning Session:  1. Ohio State 6:51.678; 2. Michigan State 7:07.835; 3. Rutgers 7:29.730
Friday Afternoon Session: 1. Ohio State 7:07.644; 2. Michigan 7:12.417;   3. Michigan State 7:26.196; 4. Wisconsin 7:37.106

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