“We have to go faster rather than worrying about where the other boats are,” MSU head coach Matt Weise said. “We should have a lot of close races this weekend but we have a very good race plan.”

Already this week in practice, the Spartans’ top two boats have posted times better than they had during last year’s Big Ten Championships, which they won.

“It’s exciting to know that we’ve come that far in one year,” senior coxswain Amanda Ruhno said.

“I think we are very prepared and we’ve been seeing really great numbers in the past few days. We are at our best right now.”

Leading the team has been the two varsity eight boats, and Weise said he’s seen drastic improvement in both boats this season.

Both were declared No. 1 seeds for this weekend’s tournament, with the varsity eight being undefeated (8-0) and the second varsity eight with a nearly perfect record of 7-1.

“They have been on fire all year,” Weise said. “Last year, they had a really great season and finished not as great as they could have. I think that’s fuel for the fire for them. They‘ve been wanting to prove themselves since the moment they got back.”

Weise expects the Spartans to put forth a good showing this weekend — especially because his team competed on the same river two weeks ago.

“They aren’t learning a new piece of river, so they don’t need to worry about where the dangers are,” Weise said. “It’s a comfortable place for them to be.”

Standing in the way of the Spartans and a repeat as Big Ten Champions is a field littered with dangerous teams, including five other Big Ten schools in the top-20 in the country.

“We are ready for some tough competition,” sophomore Laura Cowal said.

“(No. 5) Michigan and (No. 7) Ohio State have both been doing really well. They are going to give us a good fight. But we want to do what we’ve been doing and just go fast.”

Ruhno hopes her team is able to repeat as Big Ten Champions this weekend to get momentum rolling for the NCAA Regionals, which start May 16.

“I don’t know what the outcome will be this weekend,” Ruhno said.

“But with all of our boats we are going to see some really great numbers. We want to break some of our own MSU records. I’m expecting to do that and give the other schools a run for their money.”