Tulsa
William Knecht Cup
Tulsa's Novice 4 is Golden at William Knecht Cup
4/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
April 18, 2004
Tulsa, Okla. - The University of Tulsa women's rowing team put together a stellar performance on Sunday morning in the final day of competition at the William Knecht Cup in Camden, New Jersey.
Tulsa's Novice 4A took home a gold medal for their performance in the grand final, turning in a time of 8:05.7, nearly 20 seconds faster than second-place Villanova. Coxswain Julie Burch called a clean race, pushing Emily Bailey, Sarah Laurent, Anne Dachowski and Stephanie Lejbjuk to a great performance.
"The Novice 4A's race was masterful," Head Coach Kevin Harris said. "The women dominated from start to finish. It is the best novice race that I have ever seen at TU."
The Novice 4B also competed in the grand final, finishing in sixth place with a time of 8:44.0. "The team was in a dog fight for third place," said Harris. "The final four crews were very close for the first 1000 meters, but we couldn't keep up in the second half of the race."
In the Varsity 4 grand final, the Golden Hurricane claimed the sixth-place mark in a time of 8:16.0, but the race was tight as all six teams finished within 30 seconds of one another. Tulsa came off of the line well and put together a strong 750 meters, but couldn't sustain their speed.
"The Varsity 4 didn't have a great race today," Harris said. "We will go back to Tulsa and work on redrafting the race plan for the second 1000 meters, before facing these crews again in three weeks at the Dad Vail Regatta."
"Overall I am proud of our efforts this weekend," added Harris. "The coxswain core of Krista Atchley, Burch and Gabriela Lopez, deserve a lot of credit. They worked hard and led the crew to some impressive performances."
The Golden Hurricane will race again on Saturday, April 24th, as Tulsa hosts the Inaugural Oklahoma Cup Regatta, beginning at 9:00 a.m., at the TU boathouse on Zink Lake.
RESULTS Varsity 4 Grand Final - 1. Villanova - 7:46.4 2. Kansas A - 7:50.9 3. Dowling - 7:53.0 4. Kansas B - 8:10.0 5. Boston College - 8:11.4 6. Tulsa - 8:16.0Novice 4 Grand Final - 1. Tulsa A - 8:05.7 2. Villanova - 8:23.9 3. Lehigh - 8:25.7 4. Kansas - 8:26.3 5. Vermont - 8:38.2 6. Tulsa B - 8:44.0
