Rowing Concludes Fall Regatta at Head of the Oklahoma
Oct. 2, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The University of Kansas rowing team wrapped up its first event of the fall season on Sunday at the Head of the Oklahoma. The Jayhawks finished the two-day event in the women’s collegiate single, the women’s open four and the women’s open pair.
In the women’s collegiate single, senior Melanie Luthi was the top KU individual as she placed third with a time of 18:20.034. Senior Angela Mings was one of three other Jayhawks to round out the top 10 as she finished sixth, freshman Angie Flores and senior Paige Stephens finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
In the women’s open four, Kansas’ three entries finished fourth, sixth and seventh with the best time being 16:38.385. The fourth-place team consisted of Katie Hayes, Amanda Lewis, Erin Brogan, Emma Umbarger and coxswain Lindsey Bricklemyer.
After the first competition of the year Kansas rowing head coach Rob Catloth felt pretty pleased with his team’s weekend in Oklahoma.
“I thought it went pretty well,” Catloth said. “One of our goals was to be more competitive against the teams we’re going to have to race throughout the year, and I felt we took a step forward in our level of competitiveness. We had a top-10 finish in the eight and that was one of our goals.”
On day one of the competition, Kansas competed in the women’s collegiate eight, the women’s collegiate four and the women’s open double.
In the collegiate eight night qualifier, the Jayhawk team of Luthi, Mings, Olivia Kinet, Erin Brogan, Angie Flores, Danielle Adam, Paige Stephens, Jessica Miller and coxswain Bricklemyer placed 10th with a time of 14:10.428, while the other Kansas team finished just three spots behind in 13th. Both teams made it to the petite final later in the evening.
Part of what makes the Head of the Oklahoma event so extraordinary is the night sprints. In the women’s open double, KU’s two entries took home third and fourth place, respectively. The third-place team of Flores and Luthi finished in a time of 16:02.336, while the team of Stephens and Mings crossed the finish line at 16:46.638.
In the women’s collegiate four, KU brought home another top-10 finish. The team of Kinet, Adam, Schoonover, Eileen Gallagher and coxswain Katy MacCormack finished ninth with a time of 15:46.317. The Jayhawks just missed out on placing two boats in the top 10 as the next group came in 11th.
In the collegiate eight 500m petite final, the KU team of Luthi, Mings, Kinet, Brogan, Flores, Adam, Stephens, Miller and Bricklemyer brought home first place with a time of 01:36.771. Finishing just six seconds after the winning team (third place) was Kansas’ team of Gallagher, Hayes, Lewis, Schoonover, Cara Murray, Amber Malone, Ashlyn Midyett, Liz Scherer and coxswain Olivia Catloth.
“We’re going to do some work on getting boatings set just so we know who is in what boats,” Catloth said. “I think that will help us a little bit and then we have another month to continue to improve in our fitness. It gives us time to get better, improve on our rowing and get fitter and stronger.”
Kansas has five weeks to prepare for its next regatta on Nov. 5-6 at the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, Tenn.
