Jayhawks Fall Short in Classic Sunflower Showdown
March 30, 2013
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The 2013 edition of the Sunflower Showdown will go down as one of the closest in the 16-year history of the rowing dual between Kansas and Kansas State. The competition came down to the final race with the Wildcats winning by less than two seconds. Kansas won two races on the day with Kansas State winning three.
The event started with Kansas winning the Novice Eight in a time of 8:52.4, giving Kansas the first point in the dual. Kansas State followed by winning the Novice Four. The Wildcats also won the Varsity Four race to give them a total of six dual points. Kansas’ Varsity Four has been dominant this season, winning four out of their last five races, and defeated K-State earlier this season, but the Wildcats won the Varsity Four race by 3.2 seconds.
The Jayhawks came back to tie the team score with a victory in the Second Varsity Eight as KU rowed the 2,000 meters in a time of 7:06.0. Rowing in the Second Varsity Eight boat for KU were seniors Cheyenne Verdoorn and Danielle Adam, junior Amanda Lewis, and sophomores Julia Alvey, Claudijah Lever, Erin Brogan, Jenni Hartzler, and Jade Lambkins. The coxswain was junior Caty Clements.
“As a whole, our 2V8 raced really well and their novice have always been really strong,” said KU head coach Rob Catloth. “I think we are going to continue to improve and our athletes really have some positive things to take away from how they rowed today.”
With the dual tied at 6-6, the competition came down to the First Varsity Eight. Kansas State got out to a sizeable lead early in the race, but with about 750 meters to go, the Jayhawks stormed back and consistently closed the gap. The Jayhawks ran out of room and fell short of catching the Wildcats as K-State crossed the finish line is 6:59.8, which was 1.4 seconds ahead of the Kansas boat.
“I think we rowed really well,” said Catloth. “We were really working hard to win the (team) points trophy. They jumped out to a lead and tried to hang on. In the end we were coming back really hard and just couldn’t get there.”
Kansas travels to Bloomington, Ind. next Saturday to row against Georgetown and Indiana.
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Kansas Boatings
Novice Eight
Coxswain Mary Slattery
Tess Scott
Morgan Thomsen
Jessie Jacob
Clarissa Holt Bates
Kelsey Dick
Jackie Adamle
Emily Scheck
Stephanie Walker
Novice Four (A)
Coxswain Briana Pina
Gabby Hacker
Lauren Miller
Carrie Smith
Casey Kelly
Novice Four (B)
Coxswain Olivia Cowan
Breeona Foster
Jessica Scheer
Kirsten Whitaker
Marti Belot
Varsity Four (A)
Coxswain Katy MacCormack
Eileen Gallagher
Emma Umbarger
Jessica Miller
Kaylee Sextro
Varsity Four (B)
Coxswain Sarah Lasini
Ashlyn Midyett
Angie Flores
Emily Starr
Carley Iverson
Second Varsity Eight (A)
Coxswain Caty Clements
Julia Alvey
Cheyenne Verdoorn
Claudi Lever
Erin Brogan
Jennifer Hartzler
Amanda Lewis
Danielle Adam
Jade Lambkins
Second Varsity Eight (B)
Coxswain Abby Lozenski
Andrea Joyce
Meghan Cahill
Allie Griffin
Rebecca Clark
Kelsie Fiss
Cara Murray
Kristen Byrd
Maija Mallula
First Varsity Eight
Coxswain Olivia Catloth
Caity Decker
Olivia Kinet
Alex Torquemada
Liz Scherer
Maggie Duncan
Brooke Thuston
Katy Evans
Laura Benz
