May 12, 2006

East Lansing, Mich. -

Michigan State Notes Packet
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THE STORYLINE
The Spartans head to Oak Ridge, Tenn. for the 2006 Aramark South/Central Sprints, hosted by the University of Tennessee. The Spartans are coming off a third-place team finish at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago.

SEEDINGS
Each of Michigan State's crews has secured a top-four seed, led by the varsity four's No.2 seed in its division. Both the second varsity and novice eights were seeded third, and the varsity is fourth.

FORMAT
Racing will take place on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and will be hosted by the University of Tennessee, which used the course as its home venue until 2001. The 2000-meter rowing course provides an straight rowing course that can be fully buoyed for 7 lanes. Morning heats will begin with open fours at 9 a.m., and run on 10- minute intervals through both all heats of novice eights, varsity fours, second varsity eights, and varsity eights. Repechage and semifinal heats will follow on Saturday afternoon from 2-4 p.m., Sunday's racing will commence at 9 am for the C and D level finals in each division, with the Petite and Grand finals in each category alternating on 10-minute centers beginning at 10:30 a.m.; the day's racing will conclude with the varsity Grand Finals at 11:40 a.m.

POLLS, POLLS, POLLS
The Spartans enter the weekend with a No. 14 national ranking in this weeks Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA)/US Rowing poll, and is one of five Big Ten teams in the top 20. Ohio State (fourth) is the top Big Ten entry, Michigan is ranked sixth, and Minnesota (ninth) and Wisconsin (20th) round out the Big Ten's representation in the survey. Princeton sits in the top spot, followed by 2005 National Champion Cal, USC, Ohio State, and Brown.

BIG TEN POSTSEASON HONORS Senior rower Christen Brown, the five-seat of the varsity eight for most of the season, was the lone Spartan representative on the 2006 All-Big Ten First Team. Brown was also a first-team selection for 2005. Second Team selections included second-year varsity eight coxswain Beth Smith and senior Sarah Brady, appearing at the Big Ten Championship regatta in the sixth seat of the varsity eight. The honor was the second for Smith; she was named to the second team in 2005, when she helped guide the Spartan varsity eight to a gold medal at the Big Ten Championships. Senior rower Christie Daiss, appearing in the third seat of the second varsity eight, was the MSU representative on the list of Sportsmanship Honorees for 2006. It is the first Big Ten award for Daiss.

BROWN'S INVITE
Senior oarswoman Christen Brown has received an invitation to row at the Senior National Team Camp in Princeton, NJ. Brown participated last summer as well, and will report to Princeton soon after the Spartan rowing season is completed. She is one of ten collegiate athletes invited to this camp.

MORE KUDOS
Senior Abby Wieber received the 2006 President's Award at the Student Athlete Support Services Academic Gala on April 10. The President's Award is given annually to MSU's top senior male and female student-athletes.

THE SPARTAN COACHES
Michigan State graduate Matt Weise enters his second season as the head coach for the women's rowing program, after spending seven years as an assistant and several years prior at the head of the club program for the Spartans. During his first season, he led the program to its first ever Big Ten Championship, while being recognized as the Big Ten Coach of the Year and the Central Region's Coach of the Year.

Wiese's assistant is Stacey Rippetoe, who was the novice coach for the Spartans for four seasons prior to her role as an assistant varsity coach the last two years. She is a 1997 graduate of Rutgers University, and served as the novice coach at the University of Rhode Island for four years before joining the staff at MSU.

Christiina Tymoszewicz is in her second season guiding the Spartan novices, and joined the staff after two years at Marietta College. She was a four-year letterwinner and All-American at Northeastern University as an undergraduate.

TEAM FINISHES
2005 Regatta: Three Spartan crews (varsity eight, second varsity eight, and varsity four) snagged top-five seeds for last year's event here in Oak Ridge. Each shell advanced to their individual Grand Finals and tallied 294 points to finish sixth overall, behind Virginia, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Tennessee. Michigan State finished fourth in the Central region behind Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan. All-Time South/Central Sprints: MSU has never been crowned regional champions, although the team has finished second twice: in 1999 and 2000. The team finished third at the 2002 regional regatta, and nabbed fourth-place finishes in 1998 and 2003. The Spartans finished fifth in 2001 and 2004, and finished sixth, the lowest in the history of the MSU program, in 2005.

A LOOK AT THE VARSITY EIGHT
The crew: The varsity eight consists of three seniors (Sarah Brady, Christen Brown, and Kirsten Rasanen), two juniors (Roz Bialczak and Paula Thoms) and three sophomores (Joanna Brown, Kate Burdick, and Anne Cowan). They are coxed by senior Beth Smith. Five of these rowers, (Brady, Christen Brown, Rasanen, Bialczak, and Thoms) were rowing in the varsity eight a year ago, but all boast Sprints experience. Joanna Brown, Burdick, and the 2005 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Cowan all rowed in the second varsity eight, which claimed third place here a year ago.

Spring season results: The varsity eight had a rocky start to the 2005 season in the home opener on March 25 against Indiana. The varsity squad fell to the second varsity eight both in the morning heat (which wasn't officially timed) and in the afternoon race. The Spartans placed ahead of Indiana in both cases. After its only home dual of the season, the Spartans took part in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, falling to then-No. 7 Michigan in the morning and then-No. 4 Ohio State in the afternoon, but placed ahead of Duke. The varsity eight got its season back on track with an upset of then-No. 3 Virginia on April 8, then finished the season with victories over then-No. 16 Wisconsin and Iowa on April 15. Going unbeaten against its last three opponents earned the varsity eight Big Ten Boat of the Week recognition on April 18.

2006 Big Ten Championships: The varsity crew finished second in its morning heat (behind Michigan) to advance to the Grand Final. In what turned out to be the closest final of the day - just 6.2 seconds separated first from fourth place - the Spartan varsity eight was fourth, in a time of 6:52.4. Ohio State (6:46.2) Michigan (6:47.8) and Minnesota (6:48.8) were all separated by two seats at the finish, with the Spartans half a length back from the Gophers.

2005 South/Central Sprints: The varsity eight entered the 2005 South/Central Sprints as the No. 1 seed, after upsetting Ohio State and Michigan at the Big Ten Championships. The shell finished first in its morning heat against crews from Louisville, Indiana, Cincinnati, and Kansas, which earned them a bid in the A-B semifinal, in the afternoon on May 14. A second-place finish behind Virginia and ahead of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Indiana led to a spot in the Grand Final, where the Spartans finished sixth.

All-time South/Central Sprint finishes: The varsity eight shell has never finished lower than seventh at the regional regatta, with the singular seventh-place finish coming in 2004. The Spartans finished sixth in 2003 and again at last year's Sprints, and fourth in 2001. The Spartans nabbed a pair of third-place finishes (1998 and 2002) and were runners-up twice, in 1999 and 2000.

THE SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
The crew: The second varsity eight crew is comprised of five seniors (Suzanne Buzzell, Christie Daiss, Ashley Johnson, Kathy Syrowik, and Abby Wieber), one junior (Jenna Peters) and two freshmen (Sarah Schmidt and Kate Williamson). The second varsity is coxed by sophomore Katie Bitz. Buzzell, Johnson, and Wieber all return to the Sprints in the second varsity shell.

Spring season results: The second varsity eight started its season with a pair of victories over the MSU first varsity eight and Indiana in the season opener on March 25 in Lansing. The shell's upset of the then-No. 13 varsity eight earned the crew Big Ten Boat of the Week accolades for March 28; the rowers then downed Michigan in the morning event at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge before falling to Ohio State in the afternoon. The Spartans fell again the following weekend (April 8) to Virginia before rebounding with wins against Wisconsin and Iowa on April 15. 2006 Big Ten Championships: The second varsity eight had a three-quarter length margin of victory in its morning heat, three seconds ahead of Minnesota, 15 seconds ahead of Indiana and over a minute ahead of Iowa's crew to advance to its Grand Final. The Spartans (6:56.0) fell to Ohio State (6:55.0) by two seats, but finished comfortably ahead of Michigan (7:00.7) and Minnesota (7:05.5).

2005 South/Central Sprints: The second varsity eight earned the third seed in last year's event, and opened the Sprints in a heat with Texas, Duke, Louisville, and Miami. Its first-place finish earned them a spot in the fourth lane for its afternoon semifinal, where the shell placed second behind Virginia and claimed a berth in the Grand Final, finishing ahead of Wisconsin, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Clemson. In the Grand Final, the Spartans fell to Virginia and Ohio State, but downed crews from Michigan, Wisconsin and Notre Dame for a third-place finish.

All-time South/Central Sprints finishes: The second varsity eight is the only MSU shell to claim a regional title, which it did in 2003 after finishing in second place the previous season. It is also the only MSU crew that has qualified for the regional Grand Final every year since the program's inception in 1997-98. No second varsity has ever finished lower than fifth (2001), and the boat finished fourth in the inaugural season of the MSU rowing program. The Spartans also have four third-place finishes at the South/Central Regatta, with the most recent coming in 2005.

FIRST VARSITY FOUR
The crew: The varsity four crew consists of three seniors (Renee Bloome, Liz Brennan, and Julia Craig) and one sophomore (Ashley Short). The coxswain of the varsity four is sophomore Tamara Yantovsky.

Spring season results: The varsity four finished the 2005 spring season undefeated. The varsity four shell defeated Indiana on March 25 by 18 seconds. On April 1 at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Michigan fell to the Spartans by 14 seconds, followed that afternoon by Ohio State by more than four seconds. MSU then downed two Virginia crews, then closed the season with two more victories over the Michigan varsity four and added a pair of victories over Wisconsin in the double dual on April 15.

2006 Big Ten Championship: The varsity four's season-long unbeaten streak remained untarnished in its morning heat, when MSU downed crews from Ohio State and Wisconsin. However, the streak ended in the Grand Final, as the Spartans' time of 7:40.6 was second to Minnesota (7:39.5), the only Big Ten crew Michigan State did not race against during the regular season. 2005 South/Central Sprints: The varsity four was seeded second, and posted a time of 7:33.5 to win its opening heat. The boat then raced to its second top finish, shaving seven seconds off its morning time (against crews from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Tennessee, Clemson, and Indiana) for the team's third berth in a Grand Final. In the next day's race, the Spartans finished second, behind only the overall-champion Virginia crew for the highest finish by an MSU shell on the day.

All-time South/Central Sprints finishes: In the inaugural season of the MSU rowing program (1998), the varsity four finished 11th at the South/Central Sprints. The four also finished in seventh in 2004, the last time the shell failed to qualify for the regional Grand Final. The varsity four's best finish is second, a feat the boat has accomplished twice, once in 2002 and again last season. The varsity four shell has also finished once in third place (1999), fourth place (2000), fifth place (2001) and sixth place (2003).

NOVICE EIGHT
The crew: Three sophomores (Lauren DesArmo, Sarah Kreft and Julie Ward) and five freshman (Nancy Diehl, Lauren Gamble, Lindsey Griffiths, Abby Velting, and Ashley Wenneman) make up the Spartan novice eight crew, along with sophomore coxswain Megan Piwowar.

Spring season results: The novice eight crew downed Indiana by more than five seconds to open its season on March 25; the boat then fell to Michigan but defeated Ohio State's novices at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge the following Saturday. On April 8,the Spartan novices downed a pair of crews from Virginia. To close the season, the novices fell to Wisconsin by 15 seconds, then rebounded to defeat the Iowa novice crew by 22 seconds.

2006 Big Ten Championship: The novice eight advanced to the Grand Final at the league's championship regatta by finishing ahead of Indiana, Iowa and Ohio State in its morning heat. The Spartans then raced against Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota, turning in a time of 7:22.5, good for fourth place.

All-time South/Central Sprints finishes: The novice eight has never finished higher than third at the South/Central Sprints, which MSU crews did in the 1998 and 1999 postseasons. The boat failed to qualify for the Grand Final two years running, finishing ninth in 2001 and 11th in 2002. The shell qualified for the Grand Final twice more, finishing fifth in 2002 and 2003, and have not competed in the South/Central Sprints in the last two seasons.