Kansas Rowing Lands in Tenth on Final day of Lake Wheeler Invite

Friday, April 24

Raleigh, N.C.

9 a.m. CT

University of Kansas

Lake Wheeler Invite

Kansas Rowing Lands in Tenth on Final day of Lake Wheeler Invite

4/25/2026 6:19:00 PM | Women's Rowing

Results

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Jayhawks completed the Lake Wheeler Invite with an overall tenth place standing and 12 points, highlighted by a second place showing from the III Eight boat on Saturday afternoon against top 25, ranked opponents.

"We had one of our best showings of the season in session 1 and we are very excited about the progress those races showed," says head rowing coach Andrew Derrick."Now we need to continue to learn how to do it consistently, as we struggled a bit in the second and third session. Bottom line, we continue to make progress, show more and more speed even if not consistently yet, and above all proud of the growth of this group!"

Friday's racing began with III Eight crew (freshmen Samantha Ronen, Ashley Herbert, Suyin Howard, Naida Paschal, seniors Lauren Burright and Catherine Bachovchin, sophomores Morgan Tenpenny, Audrey Crowson, with junior Andronika Dyer) seeing fourth in heat 3 with a 06:52.950 time.

The II Four boat consisting of junior coxswain Kayley Chism, seniors Rory Brennan and Abigail Steffen, sophomore Isabel Smikahl, and freshman Hollis Andreen followed with an additional fourth placement in lane six, posting a 07:39.330 time against multi-conference teams.

Earning Kansas' first top 3 placement of the weekend was freshman coxswain Megan Engerman, Izzy Rossato, sophomores Emerson Linthicum and Grace Bailey, along with junior Sofia D'Ascenzo in the I Four boat, crossing the finish line at 07:38.810.

Both the II Eight boat (sophomore coxswain Kyra Kavouridis, freshman Kenzington Rector, juniors Tya Drennen, Gretchen Schmeirer-Knust, with Alex and Eva Robinson, as well as seniors Anastasiia Draha, Martina Zbiralova, and Kathryn Borthwick) and I Eight crew (junior coxswain Ruby Moritz-Cammack, freshmen Katariina Peipman and Claire Van Mater, sophomore Kaylie Hellner, juniors Sophie Pense and Gracie Shepherd, along with seniors Kara Lyons, Lindsey True, and Aylin Schafer) would place third in their individual races to close out round 1 of the Lake Wheeler Invite with respective times of 06:53.670 and 06:40.300.

Friday afternoon's round 2 saw KU's best finish of the weekend with the III Eight boat earning runner-up in lane 5, just two seconds behind No. 13 Duke.
The next two races would land the II Four (07:41.230) and I Four (07:38.700) boats a pair of fifth-place finishes in their respective second heats.

Closing out round 2 of the Lake Wheeler Invite was the II Eight and I Eight crews posting 06:55.670 and 06:46.480 times respectively to claim sixth in their separate heats.
Saturday's final round 3 opened with the Jayhawks in heat 1 of the II Four race, placing sixth and clocking in just a second away from fifth.

The I Four crew earned KU's ninth, top 5 placement of the weekend with a 07:33.870 time, edging out Geroge Washington and Vilanova.

Kansas would go on place sixth in the final two, respective races of the weekend with the II Eight boat posting a 06:51.330 time and the I Eight boat crossing the finish line at 06:43.520 to close out the Jayhawks' trip to North Carolina.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will travel north for the Minesota Invite on Lake Phalen for their last away, regular season regatta. Racing begins at 8:30 a.m. CT on Saturday, May 2.