Kansas Rowing Ties for Third Place at OU Invite

March 14, 2010

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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.–Kansas rowing finished with 46 points, good for a tie for third place with Tulsa, at the University of Oklahoma Invitational in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Sunday. The Jayhawks got off to a strong start in the first session on Saturday, but were unable to carry the momentum into day two.

“We learned a lot this weekend,” said KU head coach Rob Catloth. “We tried to get some experience in dual racing like we’ll see in the conference races coming up next month. We’ve never raced before spring break before.”

San Diego took first place with 102 points and Oklahoma finished second with 92 points. SMU finished fifth with 14 points while Creighton placed sixth with four points.

KU kicked off the morning session on Sunday with wins over Oklahoma in the First Novice Eight and Varsity Four races, earning 10 points, but the Sooners won the Second and First Varsity Eight races and earned 18 points for those finishes. The Jayhawks did pick up a victory over Oklahoma in the Second Novice Eight, but that race did not count for points.

In the afternoon session Kansas outraced Tulsa to win the Second Varsity Eight with a time of 7:34.88 and pick up eight points. The Jayhawks also earned four points in the First Novice Eight.

“We tried a lot of different lineups,” Catloth said, “Some worked and some didn’t. We wanted to have the experience of racing.”

In Saturday’s morning session the Jayhawks won all of their matchups except for the Open Four, which did not count for any points. Kansas defeated SMU in the First Varsity Four, Second Varsity Eight and First Varsity Eight. KU also beat Oklahoma in the First Novice Eight race. USD outraced Kansas in the Open Four.

The Jayhawks struggled in the afternoon session earning no more points for the team, but did win the Second Novice Eight versus Oklahoma.

“Usually our third or fourth races are in the third or fourth week of April,” said Catloth. “The races this weekend will help us know what to work on as we head into spring training this next week.”

Kansas will continue its spring training over the next week and will return to competition on Saturday, March 27 at Texas in Austin, Texas.

For a full listing of final results see the attached PDF.