Head of the Grand 2023

September 29th at 5am the mtu crew departs

We left early for our 8 hour drive down to East Lansing, Michigan for our first official regatta of the 2023 season. After successfully crossing the bridge and making our way down state, we park the trailer at the Michigan State Boat House and start to rig our boats. With not much time left in the day, we got in our boats and rowed the map to get a feel of what the next day will bring us.

A huge thank you to the Lee Family for allowing our team to stay in their home and eat some amazing homemade food the night before the race. We were able to sleep well and get up bright and early to head back down to the regatta.

notable perfomances

Women’s Noice 4+- Elise, Emma K., Olivia, Bethany, and Elena (cox) took the water for the first time in a new boat practicing only twice before on the water before the race. But spirits were high and as the rowed to the start, the boat solidified. With an 11:45am start, they finished in 19 minutes and placing first against both MSU A/B boats.

Men’s Novice 8+- Eli, Mark, Caleb, Aidan, Christo, Brendan, Avis, Aili, and Elena (cox) won their first race ever. Racing against Michigan State, they pulled through first beating MSU by 9 seconds with a 14:13 race time.

Women’s Novice 8+- Elise, Elena, Olivia, Bethany, Avis, Trinity, Emma K., Aili, and Orin (cox) placed first in their first ever regatta together. As an all novice boat, everything was new to almost everyone. Although the Novice 4+ hot seated this race, everyone pulled through. Orin coxed the newer boat to the finish, and all though everyone left the boat with raw hands and out of breath, they finished 2:24 minutes ahead with a 16:32 race time.

As a final wrap up, our crew pulled through and delivered. We were able to enjoy hotdogs, pasta, and some yummy desserts thanks to the amazing parents that came out to support. After derigging our boats and putting them on the trailer, it was time to head back to campus.