Kansas Boats Dominate Women’s Collegiate 4+ Race at the Head of the Oklahoma

Saturday, October 5

Oklahoma City, Okla.

University of Kansas

Head of Oklahoma

Photo by: University of Kansas Athletics

Kansas Boats Dominate Women’s Collegiate 4+ Race at the Head of the Oklahoma

10/5/2024 5:00:00 PM | Women's Rowing

Results

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Kansas Varsity 4 A boat finished with a time of 15:47.20 to win the Women's Collegiate 4+ race at the Head of the Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Saturday afternoon.

"I thought this group came into the day confident but relaxed," said Head Coach Carrie Cook-Callen. "We stayed focused on the boat class we will race in a couple weeks in Boston and prioritized it today on a single race opportunity, just like we'll have at the conference championship."

In an upperclassmen driven boat, seniors Sarah Sutton, Emma Wistuba, Amber Cayci and juniors Katia Ustiuzhanina and Alessandra Vedder pulled together a sound victory to kick off the fall season, beating the second-place Alabama B boat by almost eight seconds.

"Our biggest strength was the consistency we had as a crew despite the obstacles we encountered during the race," said Vedder. "We have been building confidence and power through our training, which ultimately allowed us to be successful.

The Jayhawks' Varsity 4 B and C boats also added their own top-10 performances as the Varsity 4 B boat placed seventh with a time of 16:16.50, while the Varsity 4 C boat trailed just behind at 16:21.20 to settle into eighth place.

Kansas rowers that made up the Varsity 4 B boat included seniors Audrey Owens, Karly Larson and Ava Black, junior Kara Lyons and sophomore Gracie Shepherd. The Varsity 4 C lineup featured seniors Laura Teska and Rylee Crowell, juniors Lindsey True and Anastasiia Draha and sophomore Grace Morenz.

After missing out on last year's action, Kansas was the only school to have all of its boats finish in the top 10 out of all 26 race entries.

"They immediately came off the water positive about parts of their race but in the same breath ready to work on things they thought they could improve on about their performance," added Cook-Callen.

The Jayhawks also received an early glimpse of Big 12 competition as three Tulsa boats competed in the Women's Collegiate 4+ race with a best placement of sixth. At the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year, Tulsa became a Big 12 Women's Rowing affiliate and will race against Kansas, Kansas State, UCF, West Virginia and Old Dominion for the conference title in May 2025.

Up Next
Kansas is off for a week before returning to the road and heading northeast for the Head of the Charles in Boston, Massachusetts, from Oct. 19-20. The fall season will officially conclude back at home with the Jayhawk Jamboree on Nov. 2.