The last home regatta on Saturday left the Kansas rowing team’s seniors with some good memories. All four varsity Jayhawk boats took first place.

The warm, sunny day brought families and friends to a segment of the Kansas River near Second and Indiana streets to honor the six seniors.

“I’m really proud of the team,” Kansas coach Rob Catloth said. “Since it was our only home event, it was nice to have a big crowd here. It was a good show for our fans.”

Senior rower Rachel Chapman was on the first varsity eight boat and said she was pleased with the team’s results.

“We didn’t let any outside factors affect us,” she said.

Both varsity eight boats — boats manned by eight rowers — were ahead basically the whole way. The first varsity eight boat time for the Jayhawks was 6:27.6, and Tulsa finished with a time of 6:44.0. Kansas broke off at 250 meters and picked up for the sprint part of the race. Drake started to make a move on Tulsa, but came in third with a 6:51.2 finish.

“We had good rhythm the whole way,” Chapman said. “We were able to pick up even more at the end. So it felt really good.”

The second varsity eight boat finished with a time of 6:45.9, with Tulsa finishing at 7:06.4 and Drake at 7:17.8. Other victories included the second varsity four boat at 7:33.1 and the first varsity four boat at 7:20.3. Senior rower Ashlea Kramer was on the first varsity four boat, along with the second varsity eight boat.

“We raced really well and stayed pretty calm throughout the race,” she said. “We zoned it and rowed right past them.”

Catloth said he was pleased with the team making the transition from practice to race day on the Kansas River.

“They executed well today,” he said. “The goal is always to use the improvements you make in practice and put them into the race, and that’s what they did.”

The novice team struggled but walked away with second-place finishes in its three races: First Novice Eight, First Novice Four and Second Novice Four. Assistant coach Jennifer Myers, who heads the novice team, expressed some disappointment.

“We have the ability, but mentally we need to get tougher,” she said.

This week the novice women will practice some longer race pieces so the shorter races won’t seem as hard, she said.

The races were followed by senior recognition and a barbeque.

Individually the seniors came up for recognition with their families.

As a senior, Kramer said she was upset about this regatta being the last one in Lawrence, but also realized most of her season was ahead of her.

“It’s sad that it’s the last one here, but it will be different at the end,” she said. “Being a senior won’t really hit me until the last race of the season.”

Chapman said she shared Kramer’s feeling.

“We still have so much of our season left,” she said. “This is only our third regatta. I’m sure it’ll get more sad at the end though.”

The coaches have been proud of the seniors and are excited to continue the rest of the season, Myers said.

“They have provided a lot of leadership for our program,” she said. “They’re really showing our younger rowers and coxswains what it takes to be a class act.”

The Jayhawks will race again this Saturday in Manhattan for the Kansas Cup.

Rowing Results

The Kansas varsity rowing team defeated Drake and Tulsa in all four races Saturday on the Kansas River. Both eight boats finished more than 15 seconds ahead of the closest competitor.

The Novice team finished second in each of its three events.

TEAM TIME

First varsity four Kansas 7:20.3 Drake 7:23.0 Tulsa 7:44.4

Second varsity four

Kansas 7:33.1

Tulsa 7:45.4

Drake 7:51.4

First varsity eight

Kansas 6:27.6

Drake 6:44.0

Tulsa 6:51.2

Second varsity eight Kansas 6:45.9

Tulsa 7:06.4

Drake 7:17.8

TEAM TIME

Novice four - first flight Tulsa 7:54.6

Kansas 8:32.5

Novice four - second flight Drake 8:03.4

Kansas 8:10.4

Novice eight Tulsa 6:51.2

Kansas 6:54.4

Drake 7:04.9

RED: name of race

Source: Kansas Athletics Department