Club 4 Wins, Championship 4 Takes Ninth at Head of the Charles

Saturday, October 19

Boston, Mass.

University of Kansas

Head of the Charles

Club 4 Wins, Championship 4 Takes Ninth at Head of the Charles

10/20/2024 8:30:00 PM | Women's Rowing

Results

BOSTON, Mass. – In consecutive regattas, a Kansas Rowing boat won its race as the Women's Club Fours squad finished with a time of 18:20.825 at the Head of the Charles on Saturday.

"This boat has been training really well after not performing as well as they wanted in Oklahoma City," said Head Coach Carrie Cook-Callen. "They came in with confidence and elevated themselves amongst their competition. They hit a solid rhythm and put together a really solid race. Hearing they won was icing on the cake."

At the world's largest three-day regatta that featured over 11,000 rowers and 400,000 spectators, seniors Ava Black, Karly Larson, Sarah Sutton, junior Kara Lyons and sophomore Gracie Shepherd kicked off Jayhawk action late Saturday morning with a victory in the Women's Club Fours. In a race that consisted of 50 boats, Kansas delivered a sound win with a three-second lead over runner-up Columbia.

Just a little over 24 hours later, four of the five members who were a part of the winning Women's Collegiate 4+ boat at the Head of the Oklahoma took to the water in the Women's Championship Fours race. Seniors Audrey Owens, Emma Wistuba, Amber Cayci and juniors Katia Ustiuzhanina and Alessandra Vedder settled into ninth place with a time of 18:17.896, just missing eighth place by .446 of a second, to wrap up the Jayhawks northeastern road trip.

"I thought this group came out and showed well in parts of the race," said Cook-Callen. "A couple of other spots they wished they had done better, but overall finishing in a good spot amongst a very competitive field,"In addition to both Kansas boats earning program best finishes at the Head of the Charles since qualifying for the last three seasons, the placements also guarantee entry in those same events next year. The last top-10 performance at the Head of the Charles came in the Club 8's 10th-place finish in 2022.

"Overall this was another weekend that performance wise shows the commitment of the athletes over the summer and coming into fall training at a higher level. It's all transferring to high level training and racing and the coaches couldn't be more excited," said Cook-Callen.

Up Next
Kansas will wrap up its fall season by hosting the 11th annual Jayhawk Jamboree at Burcham Park on Nov. 2 beginning at 9:30 a.m.