March 7, 2008

PDF of Complete Rowing Notes

SPARTANS SET FOR RACES AGAINST VIRGINIA
Michigan State continues its spring break week with races against Virginia in Marion, Va.'s Hungry Mother State Park on Friday, March 8 at 4 p.m.. The event was originally scheduled for Saturday morning, but inclement weather forced the coaches to push the race up to Friday afternoon. Heavy rains swelled the lake, but the races will hopefully be run before possible snow falls.

The races will consist of two broken 2,000 meter pieces for the varsity eight, varsity four and novice eight. Each crew will row as far as possible for three and a half minutes, then spin and row back across the lake.

"It's a different set up and not a very "official" event so we were able to move the time around," said head coach Matt Weise. "So hopefully we'll get the races in before any weather issues."

Last year, the Cavaliers swept the three events at Hungry Mother.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
MSU hit the water on March 5 for races at Clemson, where Michigan State's top varsity four led th way, sweeping its three flights, while the second varsity eight won two of three heats.

"We learned a great deal about the teams," said head coach Matt Weise. "We can really play into our team's strengths and build momentum from that. The crews are unified and strong, and so now we can exercise those strengths over emphasizing perfect technique."

In the varsity four races, the Spartans first boat of Stephanie Bochenek, Kellie Lapointe, Megan Kursik, Victoria Woodward and coxswain Allison Duffy swept all three heats, posting times of 5:41.0, 5:39.7 and 5:42.9. MSU's second four (Alexandra Maibusch, Clare VanDen Berge, Julie Ward, Emily Huddleston and Amanda Ruhno at coxswain) placed second and third in heats two (5.46.1) and three (5.54.3).

The second varsity was coxed by Tamara Yantovsky and the crew, Catie Tyzo, Danica Bevan, Kate Taylor, Sarah Kreft, Amanda Dunnill, Lauren Gamble, Ashley Wenneman and Nancy Diehl, crossed the finish of the first heat in 6:00.8, defeating the Tigers by one second. Clemson claimed the second race by three seconds, but MSU regrouped and picked up another win in the final flight, posting a 5:17.0 against Clemson's 5:23.8.

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
Virginia opens its spring season racing the Spartans on March 8, not having competed since November 11, 2007. The team finished first in the women's varsity eight, women's novice eight, women's four, women's double and women's single at the 2007 Rivanna Romp against Georgetown, Miami, Ohio State, Tennessee and Texas.

SPOUTING OFF
Listen to MSU rowers preview upcoming races and talk about their 2008 challenges and goals by logging onto www.msuspartans.com, and checking out Michigan State's podcasts. This week, senior Kate Burdick and Anne Cowan talk about preparing for the spring season, and their hopes of returning to the NCAA Championships.

Kate Burdick: Click here
Anne Cowan: Click here

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF ROWING
Michigan State rowing is celebrating its 10th year as a varsity program with a dinner on Saturday, April 5 at the newly-revamped boathouse. Alumni and family are welcome to attend.

Rowing officially became a varsity sport for MSU in 1998, and Michigan State has established a distinguished winning tradition. The Spartans claimed their first Big Ten Championship in 2005, scoring 130 points with first-place finishes from their varsity eight and varsity four boats.

On the national scale, MSU has qualified for nine NCAA tournaments, finishing as high as sixth in 2006. The Spartans scored a program-best 40 points behind sixth-place finishes from their varsity eight and varsity four boats; additionally, the second varsity eight crew finished seventh.

For more information regarding the anniversary dinner, please contact assistant coach Christiina Tymoszewicz.

Christiina Tymoszewicz (Office) 517-432-5661, tymoszewicz@ath.msu.edu.

ROWING REWIND
Michigan State finished in eighth place overall last year at the 2007 South/Central Sprints -sixth in the Central Region - raced on Molton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The Spartans finished with 301 points, just five points behind Michigan, while Virginia took home titles in the varsity eight, second varsity, varsity four, and novice eight events to claim the overall team title with 440 points. Ohio State's 336 points were good for first in the Central Region and second overall. The Spartans narrowly missed the opportunity to advance the NCAA Championships, the first time to miss the tournament since becoming a varsity sport in 1998. The top finishing Spartan boat on the day was the second varsity, which finished fourth in a time of 6:46.70.

After the Spartans finished fourth at the Big Ten Championship, four members of the Michigan State rowing team were honored by the Big Ten for their accomplishments this season. Roz Bialczak led the group with First-Team All-Big Ten honors, while Paula Thoms and Joanna Brown were named to the All-Big Ten Second Team. Jenna Peters was named Michigan State's Sportsmanship honoree.

Bialczak was also named to Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association's Central Regional First Team, while Peters, Brown, Kate Burdick, Tamara Yantovsky, Lauren Gamble and Sarah Schmidt were 2007 CRCA Scholar Athletes.

Additional academic honors include Burdick's prestigious placement on the First-Team 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America At-Large District IV Team, an honor given by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Burdick was the first Spartan to earn the honor.

Big Ten Conference named 19 rowers to its Spring Academic All-Conference roster, including Roz Bialczak, Kathryn Bitz, Joanna Brown, Kate Burdick, Rebekah Coleman, Anne Cowan, Nancy Diehl, Allison Duffy, Lauren Gamble, Daragh Gibson, Sarah Kreft, Erica Meissner, Jenna Peters, Amanda Ruhno, Sarah Schmidt, Paula Thoms, Emily Topping, Ashley Wenneman, and Tamara Yantovsky.

ASSOCIATION HONORS ASSOCIATE
Among coaching accomplishments, associate head coach Stacey Rippetoe was tabbed the Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year as announced by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA).

Rippetoe, who served as the MSU novice coach from 2000-2004, was promoted to assistant coach in 2004 and associate head coach in December 2006. Primarily guiding the Spartan varsity fours, Rippetoe has led her boats to Big Ten Championships in 2004 (second varsity four) and 2005 (varsity four). In 2007, Rippetoe directed the varsity four to a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships and seventh at the South/Central Regional.

UP NEXT FOR THE SPARTANS
The Spartans will break until March 29, when they face Princeton and Brown in Princeton, N.J.