Michigan State University
NCAA Championships
Spartans Advance Two At NCAA Championship Regatta
5/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
May 27, 2006
West Windsor, NJ - While there is one day of competition remaining in the NCAA National Championship regatta, Michigan State's rowing program has already made school history. The Spartans qualified two of three boats for the Grand Finals on Sunday for just the second time in the history of the program, with the varsity eight qualifying for its first-ever Grand Finals appearance. The second varsity and varsity four each had races whose qualifying times came down to tenths of seconds; the varsity four edged out Princeton, but the Tigers got the upper hand in the second varsity race to snag the final qualifying spot.
Live Results/Sunday Lane Assignments
The story of the day, of course, is the outstanding performance of the Spartan varsity, which qualified for its first-ever Grand Final in this regatta. The semifinals for the advance three to the Grand Final, and racing was fast and competitive in both heats. The Spartans lined up with Washington, Cal, Ohio State, UCLA, and Notre Dame in the second semifinal; UCLA and Cal jumped out to an early three-seat lead at the settle, with the other four basically level . Cal made a move and extended their lead to nearly eight seats at the 800 meter mark over Ohio State, with MSU quick on their heels with Washington and UCLA back of the Spartans by about three seats. MSU began moving through the Buckeyes, just a half-seat back of OSU at the halfway point; Cal maintained their lead over the Big Ten rivals by about six seats in the third 500. During that span, the Spartans continued to row aggressively and had taken a lead over Ohio State. Entering the final sprint, the Spartans kept the Buckeyes at bay and continued to press into Cal's lead; the result was a time of 6:32.1, half a length behind Cal and a bowball ahead of Ohio State.
"We'll let them enjoy this for about an hour," joked head coach Matt Weise after watching his varsity qualify for its first-ever Grand Final at the NCAA regatta. "This is a great step for us - they have come up with two outstanding performances so far this weekend, the second better than the first. The goal is a third which is better than the first two. They have been in a lot of close races this year, and it was good to see them get their bow out in front. It certainly gives them some confidence."
"This crew - all our boats, really - have worked so hard to improve in the last few weeks - their rhythm and timing has been better, and they have picked up speed."
The day's racing began with an inspiring performance from the fours. Trailing by nearly a length at the 500, the Spartans made a move just over the 1000 meter mark and pulled even with Princeton, trailing the fast Ohio State crew which jumped out to the early lead. The Spartans continued their strong push through the third 500, leaving the Tigers in their wake and pushing on the Buckeyes; in the final 500, the MSU shell was able to pull a full length ahead of the Tigers and gave OSU a great race to the finish. The Buckeyes saw their early lead evaporate, but managed to cross the line a bowball ahead of the Spartans, clocked at 7:21.12; MSU was three-tenths of a second back at 7:21.43.
The Big Ten rivals advanced to the Grand Finals on Sunday for a shot at a national title - and for the Spartans, this marks just the second-ever Grands appearance. The boat's highest-ever finish came in 2002, when it finished fifth.
"I'm very happy for the athletes in that boat - they really stepped up today and showed that they know how to compete," added Weise. "This really gives them some confidence for tomorrow, too. They made up a lot in the second 1000 meters, and we'll look for a bit stronger start so that they don't have to make up as much in the final 1000 tomorrow. It's a very good crew, with three seniors and a sophomore."
The second varsity heats were the second Division I races of the day, the Spartans lined up with Princeton, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, and Tennessee. Wisconsin extended early with Princeton and the Spartans close on their trail, with the race tight as the crews crossed the 1500 meter mark. Wisconsin finished strong to take the heat in a time of 6:36.60, and left the Tigers and MSU to fight it out for the final spot in the Sunday Grand Finals. MSU made a vailiant push at the end, but Princeton pulled ahead for good in the final 10 strokes and crossed the line in 6:38.13, with a margin of seven-tenths of a second over the Spartan shell. MSU's time (6:38.89) was significantly better than any of the boats in the first heat - Cal won that race in a time of 6:42.01 - but MSU's third-place finish in its heat sends the Spartans to the Petitie final on Sunday.
"Its disappointing for the 2V to be so close, but not advance," admitted Weise. "They just didn't have the closing speed that they needed today. We will address that for tomorrow - but we are still looking for a strong race for them to finish strong."
Racing on Sunday begins at 10:45 for the Spartans, as the varsity four will line up with Washington, Ohio State, Brown, Cal, and Washington State in the Grand Finals. The second varsity has earned a seeded-lane start in the Petite Final, and will face Tennessee, Notre Dame, Yale, Washington, and Stanford to determine places 7-12. The day's racing is capped at high noon with the Grand Finals of the varsity eights, where the Spartans will line up with Ohio State, Brown, Cal, Princeton, and Washington State.
Saturday Racing Results:
Varsity Eight Semifinals Top three advance to Grand Final; rest to Petite Final
Heat #1: Princeton 6:20.85; Brown 6:26.35; Washington State n6:27.41; Minnesota 6:28.81; Yale 6:30.37; Southern Cal 6:33.76; Stanford 6:46.01
Heat #2: Cal 6:30.47; Michigan State 6:32.13; Ohio State 6:32.57; Washington 6:33.99; Notre Dame 6:36.93; UCLA 6:43.10
Second Varsity Eight Repechage Top two advance to Grand Final; rest to Petite Final
Heat #1: Cal 6:42.00; Washington State 6:43.44; Yale 6:45.29; Washington 6:45.99; Stanford 6:49.62
Heat #2: Wisconsin 6:36.60; Princeton 6:38.18; Michigan State 6:38.89; Notre Dame 6:49.04; Tennessee 6:50.36
Varsity Four Repechage Top two advance to Grand Final; rest to Petite Final
Heat #1: Washington State 7:19.11; Washington 7:19.93; Stanford 7:26.03; Wisconsin 7:27.02; Yale 7:31.17
Heat #2: Ohio State 7:21.12; Michigan State 7:21.43; Princeton 7:26.53; Notre Dame 7:34.00; Tennessee 7:42.03
