Rowing Competes at Sunshine State Invite
SARASOTA, Fla. – Kansas Rowing advanced all five boats to the second day of racing and had three boats claim victories in their heat at the Sunshine State Invite in Sarasota, Fla. on Friday and Saturday, March 31 and April 1.
The competition began Friday afternoon with racing against many top-ranked programs in the country, including No. 3 Drexel and No. 6 Louisville. The Jayhawks were able to come out on top and put together five impressive races, collecting two victories in their five races.
Kansas’ Second Four opened the weekend with a second-place finish, posting a time of 7:29.93. Kansas went on to win the First Four with a time of 7:25.59, which was 2.05 seconds faster than Kansas State (7:28.04). Later that evening, the Jayhawks were able to follow with another victory during the Second Varsity Eight with a time of 6:54.14. Kansas won by .43 seconds over Drexel (6:54.57) to advance to the grand final. The 1 and 3 Varsity 8+ also finished in the top-four of their events.
Kansas advanced four boats to the Grand Finals and one to the Petite Final at the Sunshine State Invite on Saturday at Nathan Benderson Park.
"We accomplished a lot of the goals on our list by how we raced this weekend, getting four of the five boats to the grand final and making improvements from race-to-race. In the same breath, we easily see spaces for improvement internally, and that will come with more training and racing opportunities as our season progresses. There is a lot to build upon as we get right back to work upon arrival to Lawrence. "
Coach Carrie Cook-Callen
The Jayhawks started off Saturday right with a win in the petite First Varsity Eight in a time of 6:45.00, besting runner-up Kansas State’s 1 Eight (6:47.20) by 2.20 seconds and Jacksonville (6:49.30) by 3.30 seconds. The 2 Varsity 8+ finished in fifth place with a time of 6:42.24, while the 3 Varsity 8+ finished in second place in the grand final with a time of 6:49.62, 0.23 seconds behind Michigan State A (6:49.39).
The competition wrapped up with the First and Second Varsity Fours taking the final races of the day in the grand finales. KU’s 1 Varsity 4+ placed fifth in a time of 7:24.30, while the 2 Varsity 4+ finished in sixth place in its race. The 3 Varsity 8+ crew of Rylee Crowell, Mara Evans, Savanah Skack, Lindsey True, Laine Draper, Jadyn Jay, Gracyn Rains, Emma Parsons, and Taylor Lindberg received second-place medals.
"This weekend was a great opportunity to get out and race. This was a great first race for the 3v8 this season and an amazing first 2k for several of us in the boat. We knew what we had to do to get our bow ball ahead for the first race and took what we learned from that into the second race and fought hard to keep up with Michigan State."
Sophomore Taylor Lindberg
Up Next
Kansas will be back in action on April 15, as they host the Double Dual in Kansas City, Kansas.
