Rowing wins Kansas Cup

Monday, April 9, 2007

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Rowers in the first varsity eight boat celebrate their victory against Kansas State on Saturday. Kansas defeated Kansas State by less than two seconds in the race. The victory clinched the Kansas Cup for the Jayhawks.

Starting to sprint shortly before Kansas State made the difference for Kansas’ first varsity eight boat. The Jayhawks’ come-from-behind victory clinched the Kansas Cup for the first time in four years.

The Jayhawks fell behind early in the race and trailed in the regatta’s point standings. The first varsity eight boat — led by senior coxswain Samira Naji and rowed by seniors Lindsey Miles, Jelayna Da Silva, Tiffany Jeffers, LlynnAnn Laugesen and Tricia Sawtelle; juniors Kara Boston and Elisheva Patterson; and sophomore Carrie Selden — used two strong pushes in the second half of the race to make up the deficit and ultimately win by less than two seconds.

Kansas finished in 5 minutes 50.86 seconds; K-State followed at 5:52.06.

Naji said the race was unlike any she had been in.

“Coming from behind, you never know if you can push hard enough to win, and the way they pushed, we’ve never raced like that ever,” she said.

After crossing the finish line, some of the Kansas rowers leaned back in their seats or crouched forward. Da Silva described the end of the race as “painful” as the boat continued to push despite being behind.

“That was one of those very few and far between finishes that’s an awesome feeling,” she said. “It’s kind of like angels come along, pick you up and move back. You just dig deep and find it and go.”

pullquote

It came down to the varsity eight and we raced how we planned on racing.

-Kansas coach Rob Catloth

Kansas faced a 10-4 deficit entering the final race. The Jayhawks won the novice four, worth one point, and varsity four, worth 3 points, but fell behind in the novice eight and second varsity eight, which were each worth five points. The first varsity eight race was worth eight points.

“It came down to the varsity eight and we raced how we planned on racing,” said Kansas coach Rob Catloth.

“I think we came through and really showed that we have a pretty experienced first eight with a lot of seniors in there. And without much racing this year, they actually came through and had a really strong finish,” he said.

The novice eight and second varsity eight boats struggled to get started. Catloth attributed the slow starts to confusion about the race conditions. Strong winds forced the boats to use floating starts instead of being tied in. The races started when the officials determined the two boats were lined up. All of the races were shorter than the normal 2,000 meters.

Kansas will next compete at the Knecht Cup in Camden, N.J., Saturday.

Kansan sportswriter Catherine Odson can be contacted at codson@kansan.com.

— Edited by Jyl Unruh

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