Elite Competition Awaits KU Rowers at Louisville Invite

March 15, 2013

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Though the first polls for rowing are not released until April, Kansas will face perennially-ranked competition when the Jayhawks travel to Oak Ridge, Tenn. to participate in the Louisville Invite on Saturday and Sunday. The Jayhawks will be rowing against two different schools in each race this weekend.

KU opens the competition on Saturday morning by rowing against national powers Duke and Notre Dame, who finished 15th at the NCAA Championships in 2012. The competition will feature Varsity Eight, Varsity Four, Novice Eight, Second Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Four and Third Varsity Four races.

“We need to test ourselves and rise to the occasion and use these elite teams as motivation to race fast times,” said KU head coach Rob Catloth.

In the afternoon session on Saturday, KU will row against Buffalo and Conference USA-rival Alabama. The Crimson Tide finished seventh at the Conference USA Championships in 2012. The weekend concludes Sunday morning when KU takes on Eastern Michigan and Dayton.

“Ultimately, we are trying to improve over last week and show better boat speed,” said Catloth. “We made some boat selections this week and we will continue that process over our spring training.”

The Jayhawks will stay in Oak Ridge over Spring Break for additional training. Oak Ridge is the site of this year’s Conference USA Championships, which Kansas participates in for rowing. The winner of the Conference USA title earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship in Indianapolis.

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