Rowing teams compete in one of two meets in season

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Editor’s note: This story has been changed to reflect that the event was hosted and attended by the MSU crew club.

For Laurissa Gulich, it wasn’t just another regatta — it was her last fall regatta as a Spartan.

Gulich, an earth science senior, is the president of the MSU crew club.

The MSU crew club hosted the Head of the Grand regatta at Grand River Park in Lansing on Sunday morning. Teams from MSU, the University of Michigan, Grand Valley State University, Northern Michigan University and Michigan Technological University competed.

Grand Valley State took first place in the women’s open eight- and four-person races while Michigan had first-place finishes in both men’s races.

The MSU women’s club team finished second in the open eight-person race and third in the four-person race. The men’s club team finished second in the four-person race.

This is the only regatta at MSU this fall and one of two races this year, the other being a dual race against Northern Michigan in the spring, Gulich said.

“Being at your home course, it’s a lot of work, but it’s so worth it to see all the novice rowers starting to bond and to see all the parents come together,” Gulich said. “I’m going to be gone at the end of the year and once I’m gone these are the people that are going to keep everything going.”

As both president and a veteran of the club, Gulich said it is her job to mentor young rowers.

This was the first chance for new members of the club to compete on their home course, as well as a great opportunity to compete in front of family and friends, head coach Mike Bailey said.

It takes a lot of preparation before first-year students are ready to row, Bailey said.

“We train with the freshmen five days a week for two hours a day,” Bailey said. “That includes everything from weight lifting to running stairs to using rowing machines and obviously rowing in the boat.”

This is Bailey’s second season as head coach. Although it took some time to assimilate everyone to a new style last year, he said, the results were evident. He led the club to a record number of medals and was named the American Collegiate Rowing Association coach of the year, according to the team’s website.

After a year, Bailey said he has seen improvement in the club. Even first-year members, such as mechanical engineering sophomore Michael Slopsema, are seeing the results.

“It was a really good race, we were right up there at our potential,” Slopsema said.

“(Our goal is) to not go back home this summer (saying) we could have done better, but we didn’t.”

To see a full list of results, visit statenews.com.

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