April 13, 2008

Virginia Invitational Sunday Results

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Michigan State rowing finished action at the Virginia Invitational Sunday morning with three varsity wins against Central Florida. Over the weekend, MSU's varsity four boat went undefeated, posting victories over Virginia, Oregon State and the Knights.

The morning opened for the varsity crews with the V4 races. The Spartans clocked in at 7:33.2, a solid 24-second prior to UCF, who finished in 7:57.5.

The 2V8 heats followed as Michigan State defeated the Knights by nearly six seconds, crossing the finish line in 6:42.8. The Varsity eight finished the day with a solid start-to-finish race, maintaining the lead throughout the course to best Central Florida with its time of 6:28.8 .

"The second varsity eight crew fell behind in the first 500, but they adjusted to the conditions and just took up and won pretty handily," said head coach Matt Weise.

Although the novice boat fell to the Knights, Coach Weise was impressed with their strength and rhythm against a very strong UCF novice crew.

"The novice did a nice job this weekend, and raced against really good novice crews. They were easily the most competitive with Central Florida compared to everyone else who faced them."

The Spartans engage in Big Ten races next weekend when they face Minnesota and Michigan in Minneapolis, Minn. The event is MSU's last regular-season race before the Big Ten Championships on May 3 in Ann Arbor.