Weekend regatta adds to team’s experience, improvements
Coach Catloth says high level of competition benefits team
The rowing team had an impressive showing last weekend at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta in Tennessee. Four of the team’s five boats advanced to the finals on Sunday.
By Ben Ashworth (Contact)
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
The Kansas rowing team returned to action in the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta, held on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Kansas provided impressive competition to a regatta featuring squads from such schools as Purdue, Grand Valley State, Kansas State, Tulsa, Southern Methodist University, Alabama, Jacksonville and Louisville, among others.
The races took place Saturday and Sunday, with the semifinals taking place on Saturday and the finals on Sunday. The Jayhawks entered five boats into the semifinals and successfully had four of those boats advance to the finals. The Second Novice Eight was the only boat not to qualify.
On Saturday, two boats won their respective heats while two others had impressive showings. The Varsity Four boat and the First Novice Eight claimed victories while the Second Varsity Eight finished second and the First Varsity Eight third. Despite being third, the First Varsity Eight came in with the second fastest time in school history.
The Sunday races featured stiffer opposition, resulting in no first or second place finishes, but coach Rob Catloth was not discouraged. “We made improvements over last week; our times against Kansas State were improved upon. It was good for us to have that high level of competition.”
The First Varsity Eight finished fourth behind the winning boat, Purdue, by only four seconds with a time of 6:51.50. This event was considered to be the premier event of the entire regatta.
The Varsity Four came in third behind Emory and Stetson with a time of 8:16.00. The First Novice Eight came in third as well, finishing at 7:04.90, just three seconds behind the winner Grand Valley State. Both third place finishes earned medals. Finally, the Second Varsity Eight placed fourth with a time of 7:07.21. The winner of that competition was Kansas State.
Each final that the Jayhawks participated in consisted of the six boats with the best performances from Saturday. Also competing in the SIRAs were many men’s rowing teams from schools such as Duke and Clemson. Kansas does not field a University sponsored men’s rowing team.
The overall winner of the regatta was the University of Purdue, which won both the women’s and men’s competitions. The SIRAs served as preparation for the South-Central Regionals, which will be held in the same waters on May 17 and 18.
The team will compete in the cold waters of Minnesota coming up on Saturday, April 26.
“Minnesota is a top 20 team,” Catloth said. “But we have increased our speed and experience.” This will be the team’s final regatta before the Big 12 Invitational in Austin, Texas.
—Edited by Sasha Roe
Discussion
All comments are moderated by Kansan.com staff. For our full user policy, click here.
Share your 2¢
Requires free registration.