Rowing to Compete in Knecht Cup This Weekend

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas rowing looks to get back on track this weekend when the Jayhawks travel to Cherry Hill, N.J., to participate in the Knecht Cup, April 14-15.

The Jayhawks will be competing against more than 30 NCAA Division I teams on Saturday and Sunday. KU has already competed against Buffalo, Dayton and Duke, who will all be in New Jersey this weekend. Villanova, a member of the BIG EAST, is the host school.

KU is coming off two-straight meets in which they have been swept, so head coach Rob Catloth has made some adjustments to his varsity boats.

“We’ve revamped things a little bit,” Catloth explained. “We’re really pushing for our top 20 spots to improve and then we’re still looking to keep our freshmen boats strong. We’ve raced Buffalo and Dayton was in Tennessee when we were there, so we have a little experience against those guys. The main thing is we’re going to go out there and race with a lot more purpose than we did last week.”

Kansas will compete in six events over the weekend. Four of the entries will compete in heat races of six boats Saturday morning trying to post times fast enough to advance to the semifinals.

This marks the second-straight season in which the Jayhawks will take part in the Knecht Cup and fourth in the last 10 years.

Even though the Jayhawks have dropped the last two regattas, Catloth remains positive about the rest of the season, especially with the young talent on the team.

“Our young kids are really stepping up,” Catloth said. “We had a successful freshmen group last year and now they are sophomores and our freshmen this year are doing well. I think they are going to help us be fast, hopefully for the rest of the season, but in the future for sure.”

For real-time results on the day of competition and a complete list of the schedule of events, visit: http://www.regattaworks.com/knecht/?id=113.

Upon returning from the Knecht Cup, Kansas will have a weekend off from competition before traveling to Oklahoma City, Okla. for the Big 12 Championship on April 28.