Sunday, May 18
Indianapolis, Ind.
Michigan State University
vs
Big Ten Championships
Varsity Eight Finishes Fifth to Lead MSU at B1G Championships
5/18/2025 12:56:00 PM | Women's Rowing
East Lansing, Mich. -- Michigan State had two fifth-place finishes and a Petite Finals champion in the final day of the Big Ten Championship Regatta on Sunday in Indianapolis. The Spartans finished eighth as a team with 125 points.
Senior Sabrina Gottschalk (Utica, Mich.) earned First Team All-Big Ten honors, while junior Maddie Kieft (Ypsilanti, Mich.) and sophomore Ugne Rudaityte (Vilnius, Lithuania) were Second Team selections. V8 coxswain Samantha Thoma (Interlochen, Mich.) was the Spartans' Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient.
In the team standings, fifth to eighth place was hotly contested, as just 10 points separated fifth place and No. 17th ranked Ohio State (135 points) from eighth-place MSU (125 points), with MSU beating the Buckeyes in both the first and second varsity eights. No. 2 Washington had a clean sweep of winners on the day, with gold medals in each boat class and a team total of 264 points to capture the first-ever Big Ten title for the Huskies. Top 10 crews No. 7 Rutgers (239 points) and No. 10 Michigan (212 points) rounded out the top three team finishers. The Spartans were six points behind No. 23 Southern California and 53 points in front of No. 25 UCLA.
Gallery: (5-18-2025) Big Ten Rowing Championships
The top Spartan entry raced to a fifth-place finish in the grand final of the varsity eights - MSU's best finish at the league championship regatta since 2014. Washington and Rutgers both came from behind to beat Michigan, which held the lead at 1000 meters, with the Huskies besting Rutgers by about a second for the gold medal. Michigan was third, and Indiana about a half length behind. The Spartans held strong in fifth throughout the race but could not move on the Hoosiers over the final 500. MSU finished in a time of 6:17.781, about a length over Ohio State, which finished in sixth.
MSU's second varsity eight got some Sunday redemption after Saturday heartbreak, winning the petite final. The Spartans missed out on a spot in the Grand Final by two-tenths of a second on Saturday and rowed an excellent race in a tight field with an eye on a top finish in the Petite Final. MSU was fourth at 500 meters and crossed the 1000-meter buoy in third behind Ohio State and UCLA. The three crews were jockeying for position as they entered the final 500 meters, with MSU and UCLA trading strokes as they moved on Ohio State, which had about a two-seat lead. As the teams entered the final sprint in what looked like may be a photo finish, the OSU bow seat caught a crab, and desperately tried to correct as MSU and UCLA raced by. The Spartans pulled ahead in the final strokes, earning the petite final victory in a time of 6:33.436, a full second ahead of UCLA (6:34.420); Iowa took third, followed by Wisconsin and Ohio State.
The varsity four lined up in the petite final and battled with USC and UCLA through the first 1000 meters, with the Women of Troy reaching the buoy first. Iowa made a big move in the third 500, passing the Spartans for third place to put pressure on second-place UCLA. Iowa's aggressiveness put the Hawkeyes into second place for the final sprint, overtaking the Bruins to take second in a photo finish; UCLA took third and MSU fourth, with the field open water over Wisconsin.
MSU's third varsity eight earned a fifth-place finish in the Grand Final. Washington held a half-length lead over Rutgers at 500 meters, with Rutgers and OSU separated by six-tenths of a second and Michigan holding a five-tenths of a second lead over the Spartans at the first marker. The Wolverines made a big move on Rutgers and Ohio State to overtake second place by the 1000-meter mark, but the crews responded in the third 500, with Rutgers pulling ahead by more than a length over Ohio State at the 1500-meter mark as the Scarlet Knights tried to challenge first-place Washington. The Huskies held their length lead to the finish, with Rutgers a length back and Ohio State about six seats off Rutgers to claim the medals. MSU trailed Michigan by 3.6 seconds at the 1500-meter mark and finished fifth behind UM in a time of 6:43.986.
The day opened with the fourth varsity eights, and MSU took sixth place behind UCLA, clocked in 6:59.711 – just over five-tenths of a second off the pace of the Bruins. UCLA made a major move in the third 500 to overtake MSU for fifth place, and the Spartans countered in the final 500, but were edged in the sprint to the finish. Washington, Ohio State and Rutgers were the medalists in this boat class, with the Huskies winning the race by a length, (6:41.711).
In the second varsity four, the Spartans got off to a strong start and sat in third at the 500 mark and extended its lead over fourth-place Iowa to nearly seven seconds at the midpoint of the race. MSU had contact with UCLA and Indiana through the 1000-meter mark, where the Bruins turned it on and continued to press to win the race by open water in a time of 7:17.329. The Spartans kept pace with IU, not letting the Hoosiers open any larger lead. The Spartans took third in the petite final (ninth overall) in a time of 7:33.942.
2025 Big Ten Championships
Full Results (With Splits)
TEAM POINTS: (1) Washington 264; (2) Rutgers 239; (3) Michigan 212; (4) Indiana 158; (5) Ohio State 135; (6) USC 131; (7) Minnesota 127; (8) Michigan State 125; (9) UCLA 72; (10) Iowa 66; (11) Wisconsin 53
Varsity Eight
Heat One: 1- Washington 6:25.602; 2- Indiana 6:33.990; 3- Ohio State 6:39.497; 4- Wisconsin 6:45.044; 5- Iowa 6:46.040; 6- UCLA 6:53.628
Heat Two: 1- Rutgers 6:25.764; 2- Michigan 6:30.170; 3- Michigan State 6:35.551; 4- Minnesota 6:42.910; 5-USC 6:46.127
Grand Final (63 points): 1-Washington 6:05.233; 2- Rutgers 6:06.081; 3- Michigan 6;10.091; 4- Indiana 6:12.343; 5- Michigan State 6:17.781; 6- Ohio State 6:21.123
Second Varsity Eight
Heat One: 1- Washington 6:35.483; 2- Minnesota 6:48.071; 3- Indiana 6:49.785; 4- Michigan State 6:49.988; 5- UCLA 6:51.47; 6- Wisconsin 7:05. 106
Heat Two: Rutgers 6:35.159; 2- Michigan 6:39.845; 3- USC 6:48.545; 4- Ohio State 6:49.175; 5- Iowa 7:06.306
Petite Final (30 points): 1- Michigan State 6:33.436; 2- UCLA 6:34.420; 3- Iowa 6:40.464; 4- Wisconsin 6:42.744; 5- Ohio State 6:44.199
Varsity Four
Heat One: 1- Washington 7:20.474; 2- Ohio State 7:27.241; 3- Minnesota 7:29.691; 4- USC 7:31.009; 5- Michigan State 7:50.462; 6- Wisconsin 7:51.623
Heat Two: 1- Rutgers 7:21.251; 2- Michigan 7:27.198; 3- Indiana 7:35.750; 4- UCLA 7:40.067; 5- Iowa 7:45.013
Petite Final (6 points): 1. USC 7:11.799; 2- Iowa 7:20.869; 3- UCLA 7:21.562; 4- Michigan State 7:28.107; 5- Wisconsin 7:32.972
Third Varsity Eight
Heat One: 1-Washington 7:01.592; 2- Michigan 7:09.896; 3- Michigan State 7:19.789; 4-USC 7:23.854; 5- Wisconsin 7:26.278; 6- Indiana 7:42.987
Heat Two: 1- Rutgers 6:59.061; 2- Ohio State 7:06.863; 3-Minnesota 7:08.023; 4- UCLA 7:10.239; 5- Iowa 7:13.440
Grand Final (14 points): 1- Washington 6:31.866; 2- Rutgers 6:35.294; 3- Ohio State 6:38.353; 4- Michigan 6:39.500; 5- Michigan State 6:43.986; 6- Minnesota 6:45.045
Fourth Varsity Eight
Heat One: 1- Washington 7:17.349; 2- Rutgers 7:27.400; 3- UCLA 7:27.746; 4- Minnesota 7:34.291; 5- Indiana 8:22.954
Heat Two: 1- Ohio State 7:13.465; 2- Michigan 7:32.640; 3- Michigan State 7:38.575; 4- Wisconsin 7:44.815; 5- Iowa 7:47.858
Grand Final (6 points): 1- Washington 6:41.711; 2- Ohio State 6:45.679; 3- Rutgers 6:53.559; 4- Michigan 6:57.283; 5- UCLA 6:59.164; 6- Michigan State 6:59.711
Second Varsity Four
Heat One: 1- Washington 7:27.679; 2- Ohio State 7:34.583; 3- Minnesota 7:37.525; 4- UCLA 7:40.788; 5- Michigan State 7:57.117; 6- Iowa 8:22.007
Heat Two: 1- Rutgers 7:28.995; 2- Michigan 7:31.910; 3- USC 7:38.171; 4- Indiana 8:03.004; 5- Wisconsin 8:23.992
Petite Final (6 points): 1- UCLA 7:18.329; 2- Indiana 7:28.123; 3- Michigan State 7:33.942; 4- Iowa 7:43.198; 5- Wisconsin 7:53.622.
First Team All-Big Ten
Aisha Rocek, Washington
Zola Kemp, Washington
Marilou Duvernay-Tardif, Washington
Hannah Heideveld, Rutgers
Lily Wood, Rutgers
Lauren Andersen, Rutgers
Katie Easton, Michigan
Gabrielle Graves, Michigan
Annabel Oertel, Indiana
Lilly Murphy, Indiana
Sabrina Gottschalk, Michigan State
Leandra Hogrefe, Ohio State
Annabel Aron, USC
Sophia Gruenling, Wisconsin
Orla Cuffe, Iowa
Second Team All-Big Ten
Megan Lee, Washington
Cillian Mullen, Washington
Sophie Houston, Washington
Chiara Saccomando, Rutgers
Elli Arbogast, Rutgers
Leia Till, Michigan
Amy Newton, Michigan
Nico Daly, Indiana
Maddie Kieft, Michigan State
Ugne Rudaityte, Michigan State
Amelia Boes, Ohio State
Ellie Brindle, Ohio State
Alex DeLisle, USC
Josefine Freltoft, Minnesota
Kylie Magnus, Wisconsin
Kaija Frassrand, UCLA
Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Lily Haupt, Indiana; Natalie Maher, Iowa; Ally Blomquist, Michigan; Samantha Thoma, Michigan State; Sophia Pirigyi, Minnesota; Rose Biddulph, Ohio State; Madison Cancro, Rutgers; Danielle DeFrancisci, UCLA; Chiara Meakin, USC; Olivia Hay, Washington; Macy Mosner, Wisconsin
B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS LINEUPS
1V8: B- Kaleigh Yunker, 2-Jillian Cox, 3-Maddie Kieft, 4-Freya Engel, 5-Alice Bradley, 6- Sabrina Gottschalk, 7- Ella McKenzie, S- Ugne Rudaityte C- Samantha Thoma
2V8: B-Lucy Botting, 2- Jayden Schmaltz, 3- Lillian Davidson-Walshe, 4- Kaylie Wright, 5- Lily Devereaux, 6- Ruby Vanden Boom, 7- Alaina Roush, S-Ava Woodard, C- Kendall Gonya
3V8: B- Kaari Peecher, 2-Jane Toner, 3-Paige Sorensen, 4- Susie Schulz, 5- Ava Getzloff, 6- Lily Flader, 7- Braeden Tokar, S- Hayden Rapaport, C - Haley Barabas
4V8: B- Ava Buchholz, 2- Julia Griese, 3- Taylor Peterson, 4- Analise Chelotti, 5- Karina Mitrius, 6- Mariana DellaVecchia,7- Hope Hoedel S- Mya Bretzke, C- Ellie Polion
1V4: B- Felice Orth, 2- Haley Rinehart, 3- Sophia Parker, S- Georgina Hedberg, C- Kate Galazin
2V4: B- Elise Ciantar, 2- Daisy Vazquez 3- Emily Crofut, S- Sarah Lawrence, C- Grace Thomas
Senior Sabrina Gottschalk (Utica, Mich.) earned First Team All-Big Ten honors, while junior Maddie Kieft (Ypsilanti, Mich.) and sophomore Ugne Rudaityte (Vilnius, Lithuania) were Second Team selections. V8 coxswain Samantha Thoma (Interlochen, Mich.) was the Spartans' Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient.
In the team standings, fifth to eighth place was hotly contested, as just 10 points separated fifth place and No. 17th ranked Ohio State (135 points) from eighth-place MSU (125 points), with MSU beating the Buckeyes in both the first and second varsity eights. No. 2 Washington had a clean sweep of winners on the day, with gold medals in each boat class and a team total of 264 points to capture the first-ever Big Ten title for the Huskies. Top 10 crews No. 7 Rutgers (239 points) and No. 10 Michigan (212 points) rounded out the top three team finishers. The Spartans were six points behind No. 23 Southern California and 53 points in front of No. 25 UCLA.
The top Spartan entry raced to a fifth-place finish in the grand final of the varsity eights - MSU's best finish at the league championship regatta since 2014. Washington and Rutgers both came from behind to beat Michigan, which held the lead at 1000 meters, with the Huskies besting Rutgers by about a second for the gold medal. Michigan was third, and Indiana about a half length behind. The Spartans held strong in fifth throughout the race but could not move on the Hoosiers over the final 500. MSU finished in a time of 6:17.781, about a length over Ohio State, which finished in sixth.
MSU's second varsity eight got some Sunday redemption after Saturday heartbreak, winning the petite final. The Spartans missed out on a spot in the Grand Final by two-tenths of a second on Saturday and rowed an excellent race in a tight field with an eye on a top finish in the Petite Final. MSU was fourth at 500 meters and crossed the 1000-meter buoy in third behind Ohio State and UCLA. The three crews were jockeying for position as they entered the final 500 meters, with MSU and UCLA trading strokes as they moved on Ohio State, which had about a two-seat lead. As the teams entered the final sprint in what looked like may be a photo finish, the OSU bow seat caught a crab, and desperately tried to correct as MSU and UCLA raced by. The Spartans pulled ahead in the final strokes, earning the petite final victory in a time of 6:33.436, a full second ahead of UCLA (6:34.420); Iowa took third, followed by Wisconsin and Ohio State.
The varsity four lined up in the petite final and battled with USC and UCLA through the first 1000 meters, with the Women of Troy reaching the buoy first. Iowa made a big move in the third 500, passing the Spartans for third place to put pressure on second-place UCLA. Iowa's aggressiveness put the Hawkeyes into second place for the final sprint, overtaking the Bruins to take second in a photo finish; UCLA took third and MSU fourth, with the field open water over Wisconsin.
MSU's third varsity eight earned a fifth-place finish in the Grand Final. Washington held a half-length lead over Rutgers at 500 meters, with Rutgers and OSU separated by six-tenths of a second and Michigan holding a five-tenths of a second lead over the Spartans at the first marker. The Wolverines made a big move on Rutgers and Ohio State to overtake second place by the 1000-meter mark, but the crews responded in the third 500, with Rutgers pulling ahead by more than a length over Ohio State at the 1500-meter mark as the Scarlet Knights tried to challenge first-place Washington. The Huskies held their length lead to the finish, with Rutgers a length back and Ohio State about six seats off Rutgers to claim the medals. MSU trailed Michigan by 3.6 seconds at the 1500-meter mark and finished fifth behind UM in a time of 6:43.986.
The day opened with the fourth varsity eights, and MSU took sixth place behind UCLA, clocked in 6:59.711 – just over five-tenths of a second off the pace of the Bruins. UCLA made a major move in the third 500 to overtake MSU for fifth place, and the Spartans countered in the final 500, but were edged in the sprint to the finish. Washington, Ohio State and Rutgers were the medalists in this boat class, with the Huskies winning the race by a length, (6:41.711).
In the second varsity four, the Spartans got off to a strong start and sat in third at the 500 mark and extended its lead over fourth-place Iowa to nearly seven seconds at the midpoint of the race. MSU had contact with UCLA and Indiana through the 1000-meter mark, where the Bruins turned it on and continued to press to win the race by open water in a time of 7:17.329. The Spartans kept pace with IU, not letting the Hoosiers open any larger lead. The Spartans took third in the petite final (ninth overall) in a time of 7:33.942.
2025 Big Ten Championships
Full Results (With Splits)
TEAM POINTS: (1) Washington 264; (2) Rutgers 239; (3) Michigan 212; (4) Indiana 158; (5) Ohio State 135; (6) USC 131; (7) Minnesota 127; (8) Michigan State 125; (9) UCLA 72; (10) Iowa 66; (11) Wisconsin 53
Varsity Eight
Heat One: 1- Washington 6:25.602; 2- Indiana 6:33.990; 3- Ohio State 6:39.497; 4- Wisconsin 6:45.044; 5- Iowa 6:46.040; 6- UCLA 6:53.628
Heat Two: 1- Rutgers 6:25.764; 2- Michigan 6:30.170; 3- Michigan State 6:35.551; 4- Minnesota 6:42.910; 5-USC 6:46.127
Grand Final (63 points): 1-Washington 6:05.233; 2- Rutgers 6:06.081; 3- Michigan 6;10.091; 4- Indiana 6:12.343; 5- Michigan State 6:17.781; 6- Ohio State 6:21.123
Second Varsity Eight
Heat One: 1- Washington 6:35.483; 2- Minnesota 6:48.071; 3- Indiana 6:49.785; 4- Michigan State 6:49.988; 5- UCLA 6:51.47; 6- Wisconsin 7:05. 106
Heat Two: Rutgers 6:35.159; 2- Michigan 6:39.845; 3- USC 6:48.545; 4- Ohio State 6:49.175; 5- Iowa 7:06.306
Petite Final (30 points): 1- Michigan State 6:33.436; 2- UCLA 6:34.420; 3- Iowa 6:40.464; 4- Wisconsin 6:42.744; 5- Ohio State 6:44.199
Varsity Four
Heat One: 1- Washington 7:20.474; 2- Ohio State 7:27.241; 3- Minnesota 7:29.691; 4- USC 7:31.009; 5- Michigan State 7:50.462; 6- Wisconsin 7:51.623
Heat Two: 1- Rutgers 7:21.251; 2- Michigan 7:27.198; 3- Indiana 7:35.750; 4- UCLA 7:40.067; 5- Iowa 7:45.013
Petite Final (6 points): 1. USC 7:11.799; 2- Iowa 7:20.869; 3- UCLA 7:21.562; 4- Michigan State 7:28.107; 5- Wisconsin 7:32.972
Third Varsity Eight
Heat One: 1-Washington 7:01.592; 2- Michigan 7:09.896; 3- Michigan State 7:19.789; 4-USC 7:23.854; 5- Wisconsin 7:26.278; 6- Indiana 7:42.987
Heat Two: 1- Rutgers 6:59.061; 2- Ohio State 7:06.863; 3-Minnesota 7:08.023; 4- UCLA 7:10.239; 5- Iowa 7:13.440
Grand Final (14 points): 1- Washington 6:31.866; 2- Rutgers 6:35.294; 3- Ohio State 6:38.353; 4- Michigan 6:39.500; 5- Michigan State 6:43.986; 6- Minnesota 6:45.045
Fourth Varsity Eight
Heat One: 1- Washington 7:17.349; 2- Rutgers 7:27.400; 3- UCLA 7:27.746; 4- Minnesota 7:34.291; 5- Indiana 8:22.954
Heat Two: 1- Ohio State 7:13.465; 2- Michigan 7:32.640; 3- Michigan State 7:38.575; 4- Wisconsin 7:44.815; 5- Iowa 7:47.858
Grand Final (6 points): 1- Washington 6:41.711; 2- Ohio State 6:45.679; 3- Rutgers 6:53.559; 4- Michigan 6:57.283; 5- UCLA 6:59.164; 6- Michigan State 6:59.711
Second Varsity Four
Heat One: 1- Washington 7:27.679; 2- Ohio State 7:34.583; 3- Minnesota 7:37.525; 4- UCLA 7:40.788; 5- Michigan State 7:57.117; 6- Iowa 8:22.007
Heat Two: 1- Rutgers 7:28.995; 2- Michigan 7:31.910; 3- USC 7:38.171; 4- Indiana 8:03.004; 5- Wisconsin 8:23.992
Petite Final (6 points): 1- UCLA 7:18.329; 2- Indiana 7:28.123; 3- Michigan State 7:33.942; 4- Iowa 7:43.198; 5- Wisconsin 7:53.622.
First Team All-Big Ten
Aisha Rocek, Washington
Zola Kemp, Washington
Marilou Duvernay-Tardif, Washington
Hannah Heideveld, Rutgers
Lily Wood, Rutgers
Lauren Andersen, Rutgers
Katie Easton, Michigan
Gabrielle Graves, Michigan
Annabel Oertel, Indiana
Lilly Murphy, Indiana
Sabrina Gottschalk, Michigan State
Leandra Hogrefe, Ohio State
Annabel Aron, USC
Sophia Gruenling, Wisconsin
Orla Cuffe, Iowa
Second Team All-Big Ten
Megan Lee, Washington
Cillian Mullen, Washington
Sophie Houston, Washington
Chiara Saccomando, Rutgers
Elli Arbogast, Rutgers
Leia Till, Michigan
Amy Newton, Michigan
Nico Daly, Indiana
Maddie Kieft, Michigan State
Ugne Rudaityte, Michigan State
Amelia Boes, Ohio State
Ellie Brindle, Ohio State
Alex DeLisle, USC
Josefine Freltoft, Minnesota
Kylie Magnus, Wisconsin
Kaija Frassrand, UCLA
Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Lily Haupt, Indiana; Natalie Maher, Iowa; Ally Blomquist, Michigan; Samantha Thoma, Michigan State; Sophia Pirigyi, Minnesota; Rose Biddulph, Ohio State; Madison Cancro, Rutgers; Danielle DeFrancisci, UCLA; Chiara Meakin, USC; Olivia Hay, Washington; Macy Mosner, Wisconsin
B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS LINEUPS
1V8: B- Kaleigh Yunker, 2-Jillian Cox, 3-Maddie Kieft, 4-Freya Engel, 5-Alice Bradley, 6- Sabrina Gottschalk, 7- Ella McKenzie, S- Ugne Rudaityte C- Samantha Thoma
2V8: B-Lucy Botting, 2- Jayden Schmaltz, 3- Lillian Davidson-Walshe, 4- Kaylie Wright, 5- Lily Devereaux, 6- Ruby Vanden Boom, 7- Alaina Roush, S-Ava Woodard, C- Kendall Gonya
3V8: B- Kaari Peecher, 2-Jane Toner, 3-Paige Sorensen, 4- Susie Schulz, 5- Ava Getzloff, 6- Lily Flader, 7- Braeden Tokar, S- Hayden Rapaport, C - Haley Barabas
4V8: B- Ava Buchholz, 2- Julia Griese, 3- Taylor Peterson, 4- Analise Chelotti, 5- Karina Mitrius, 6- Mariana DellaVecchia,7- Hope Hoedel S- Mya Bretzke, C- Ellie Polion
1V4: B- Felice Orth, 2- Haley Rinehart, 3- Sophia Parker, S- Georgina Hedberg, C- Kate Galazin
2V4: B- Elise Ciantar, 2- Daisy Vazquez 3- Emily Crofut, S- Sarah Lawrence, C- Grace Thomas
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