Kansas Rowing Completes Fall Schedule
Nov. 19, 2007
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas rowing completed its 2007 fall campaign on Nov. 10 in Manhattan, Kan., with a 16-9 defeat to KansasState. Despite the loss, KU had a successful fall that featured multiple first-place finishers and a promising Novice team that could prove to be one of the region’s best novice squads.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
In Kansas’ first fall regatta, senior Kara Boston led Kansas with two gold medals at the Head of the Des Moines regatta in Des Moines, Iowa on Sept. 28. Boston won the Collegiate Single race and teamed with fellow senior Elisheva Patterson to win the Collegiate Double event.
Kansas also dominated the Collegiate Single event by placing nine Jayhawks in the top 10. Boston won the event in a time of 24:32, which was over a minute faster than the next closest competitor.
The Jayhawks’ next competition was scheduled for Oct. 28 in Iowa City, Iowa but the University of Iowa’s Athletic Department ruled that the river’s water current conditions to be unsafe.
Despite the cancellation, Kansas returned to the water a week later in good form at the two-day Head of the Hooch regatta in Chattahoochee, Tenn. On Saturday, Nov. 3 Kansas entered boats in four events and took first place in the Lightweight Four race.
KU earned three more medals on Sunday, Nov. 4. The `Hawks received strong individual performances from Patterson, sophomore Katie Beall and the Lightweight Four boat to run Kansas’ total medals for the weekend to four.
Patterson grabbed silver in the Lightweight Single in a time of 23:21.5. Beall competed in the Novice Single and scored a second place finish with a time of 24:22.6. Kansas also received an impressive performance from Boston, while competing against a large field, placed fourth in the Championship Single with a time of 22:47.9.
Lexie Peterson (coxswain), Kristin Deckert, Katie Beall, Elisheva Patterson and Abby Green comprised KU’s winning Lightweight Four boat. The boat crossed the finish line in a time of 20:12.2, six seconds ahead of Georgia Tech.
Kansas concluded its fall season with a defeat to KansasState in the annual Sunflower Showdown. KU took the three novice races, but narrowly fell to K-State in the varsity races.
Kansas State opened with a three-point score in the Varsity Four race, but Kansas responded with three-straight victories in the novice races. In the Varsity Eight races, Kansas could not quite catch K-State as the Wildcats were able to score one-boat length margin victories.
“We won all the novice races and the varsity races were really close,” said head coach Rob Catloth following the Sunflower Showdown. “Its a good sign for the future of our program. Sixty of the 75 rowers that we have are in their first or second year of rowing, but we are really coming around. I think we might be able to turn the spring into a ‘reloading’ year instead of a ‘rebuilding’ year. Today’s result will hopefully provide an impetus to train hard in the winter.”
Following its winter training, KU will kick off the spring season at Tulsa, Okla. against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on March 22.
