by John Lavaccare

jlavaccare@statenews.com

This weekend at Grand River Park in Lansing, the MSU Women’s Crew Team and MSU Men’s Crew Club will host their annual Head of the Grand Regatta, the only home rowing competition of the fall season besides two upcoming novice competitions.

On Oct. 10, the Women’s Crew Team will host a high school competition between area schools. The next day, the Men’s Crew Club will host a collegiate competition featuring more than 85 boats, club adviser James Perkins said in an email.

For the first time, the regatta will take place for two days this year. Previously, the high school and college events were both held on a single Sunday. Perkins said the high school races have been moved to Saturday this year because of the increasing size of the event.

The name “Head of the Grand” refers to the Grand River, where the event will be held.

Many of the top collegiate rowing teams host regattas at local rivers. Perkins said the largest of these is the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, where the MSU Crew Club will compete later this season.

The regatta will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. At approximately 1:30 p.m. each day, a medal ceremony will be held. The team with the highest point total on Sunday will be awarded the Head of the Grand trophy. All medals and trophies used for the competition are made locally.

Races will run on a west to east course roughly from the Waverly Road bridge to the bridge on Martin Luther King Blvd. Spectators who would like to view the contest can do so on the south side of the river and Perkins said the ideal viewing area and parking will be available off Moores River Dr.

According to the MSU Crew Club website, this will be the team’s first meet of the season, as well as the first contest for new head coach Bryan Pape.