The women’s rowing Big Ten Championships in Indianapolis, Ind. were rough for the Spartans, as MSU came home with only one boat taking away a medal, finishing in fifth place at the regatta on the Eagle Creek Reservoir.

MSU’s fourth-seeded varsity four took third place to win the only medal of the day while the fifth-seeded varsity eight finished fifth.

Though it was a rough day for MSU collectively, a few Spartans managed to take home individual awards.

Senior Laura Moore was a first team selection for the All-Big Ten teams while Sarah Kovacs was named to the second team. Senior Sara Sherman received the team’s Sportsmanship Award.

The novice races began the day with MSU seeded third in both classes. The novice eights came out strong, but eventually fell off finishing fifth, half a length back of fourth-place Indiana and a length behind Wisconsin. The University of Michigan beat out Ohio State to win the title.

The Spartans came in fourth in the second novice eight race behind Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio State.

In the varsity four, the Spartans started off slow in fifth place for much of the first 1,000 meters before coming on strong during the midpoint and climbing to third place. The boat stayed in the race and managed to remain ahead of the Wolverines to win the bronze medal.

MSU struggled in the second eights, getting edged out by the Minnesota Golden Gophers for fifth place.

In the varsity eight race, Michigan and Ohio State took an early lead, leaving Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota to compete for third place. MSU managed to hold off Minnesota in a fight for fifth place, holding the Gophers off by a length of two seats and finishing with a time of 6:48.54.

The Buckeyes received the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships for a chance to defend their 2013 NCAA National Championship.

Nathaniel Gaynor is the host of Coxswain for Impact Sports.

Photo: Michigan State University Women’s Rowing