Spartan Rowers Hold 2006 Awards Banquet
5/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
May 5, 2006
East Lansing, Mich. - The MSU rowing team honored its largest senior class in history on Friday, May 5 at the team's annual awards banquet, while recognizing a few of the outstanding crew members. Freshman Lauren DesArmo received the Hammer Award as the best novice rower on the team, while Christen Brown was selected by her teammates as the most valuable rower for the 2005-06 season.
Brown, a two-time All-Big Ten First-Team honoree, has rowed in the MSU varsity eight since coming to Michigan State as a freshman. The Tecumseh, Mich. native was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2003 for her immediate impact to the Spartan rowing program. Brown earned even more recognition last season after helping the varsity eight to a Big Ten individual title, being named to both the first team in the Big Ten as well as the All-Central Region Second Team. Brown received her second spot on the Big Ten First-Team after the varsity eight finished fourth at the Big Ten Championships on April 29.
DesArmo received the 2006 Hammer Award for the best novice rower, given to oarswomen who are true novices, (without any rowing experience prior to college). DesArmo spent the regular season on the novice eight crew before moving up to join the second varsity four at the Big Ten regatta.
Also recognized on Friday night was the Spirit Award, given to President's Award winner Abby Wieber and senior rower Kirsten Rasanen. Wieber began the season rowing with the varsity eight, then switched to the second varsity eight to add depth to the rowing team mid-season, where she helped her team to a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championship regatta last weekend. Rasanen is a third-year member of the varsity eight crew, and was the 2005 Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree for Michigan State.
The rowing team honored its 12 seniors on Friday night, the largest graduating class in the nine-year history of the program. The class of 2006 consists of Rasanen, Brown, Wieber, Julia Craig, Renee Bloome, Liz Brennan, Kathy Syrowik, Suzanne Buzzell, Ashley Johnson, Beth Smith, Sarah Brady, and Christie Daiss.
Earlier in the week, Daiss was the Spartans' 2006 Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree, while Brady and Smith were both named to the All-Big Ten Second-Team. Smith, a three-year coxswain for the varsity eight hails from New South Wales, Australia, and is a two-time honoree on the second team. The honor was a first for Brady, who rowed in the first varsity eight for the past two seasons.
Players Mentioned
