Tulsa
Oklahoma Cup
Tulsa Rowers Dominate Oklahoma Cup Regatta with Three Victories
4/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
April 23, 2005
Tulsa, Oklahoma - The Tulsa women's rowing team closed out the home portion of its 2005 spring campaign in impressive fashion by posting three first-place victories in four women's races at Zink Lake on the Arkansas River. TU retained the Oklahoma Cup for the second straight season.
Despite windy conditions and a choppy surface, the teams raced the 2,000-meter course against 15 mile-per-hour head winds in less than ideal conditions, but all five races were completed.
The first race of day was the College 8+ event, which featured a revamped Tulsa Varsity 8+ boat against Oklahoma City and the TU Novice 8+ boat. The Hurricane Varsity boat got off to a clean start and took the lead, and never looked back. Tulsa clocked a first-place time of 6:31.38. The TU Novice boat overcame a slow start, but got on track and posted a second-place time of 7:01.13, while OCU's boat finished third in a time of 7:17.27.
"Our varsity boat did their job," Head Coach Kevin Harris said. "We made some line-up changes for today's race in an effort to gain better speed. I thought they pushed away early and finished strong. Oklahoma City got of the line well against our novice boat, but once we found our rhythm, we straighten out and took the lead.
Oklahoma City posted its only victory of the day in the Men's Novice 4+ race with a first-place time of 6:43.06 over Arkansas' boat, which turned in a time of 7:06:47.
The Hurricane collected its second victory of the regatta in the Varsity 4+. Tulsa's boat engineered a nine-boat length victory over the Oklahoma Club Team and finished with a time of 7:22.05, while OU clocked a second-place time of 8:15.12.
"I thought the Varsity 4+ boat did an excellent job in their race. They got off to a good start and found their stride, and just did a great job of finishing," Harris said.
The only upset of the day came in the Novice 4+ race, where Oklahoma City edged Tulsa by less than a boat length. TU's Novice 4+ boat entered the day with four victories this spring. However, Oklahoma City powered its way to a win over the Hurricane in a time of 8:38, while TU finished just nine-seconds off OCU at 8:47.39. Arkansas' boat overcame some difficulties and finished third with a time of 13:16.49.
"We definitely struggled in that race. Both the TU and Oklahoma City boats got tangled up at the start and OCU did a better job of recovering than we did and narrowly won the race," Harris said.
The final race, the Lightweight 4+, was the closest of the day. In a back-and-forth battle between Tulsa and Oklahoma City, the Golden Hurricane came from behind to narrowly edge OCU at the finish line by less than five feet. Tulsa registered a time of 7:42.31 for first place, while Oklahoma City was second with a time of 7:45.05.
"In a lightweight race, each boat weighs about the same, so it is usually a close race. Our crew came off the line well and led at the 1,000-meter mark. However, one of the seats came out of its track and Oklahoma City took the lead. We were able to fix the seat and come back in the last 20 strokes to win the race," Harris said.
Results- Women's Varsity 8+ 1. Tulsa Varsity 6:31.38 2. Tulsa Novice 7:01.13 3. Oklahoma City 7:17.27Men's Novice 4+ 1. Oklahoma City 6:43.06 2. Arkansas Club 7:06.47
Women's Varsity 4+ 1. Tulsa 7:22.05 2. Oklahoma Club 8:15.12
Women's Novice 4+ 1. Oklahoma City 8:38 2. Tulsa 8:47.39 3. Arkansas Club 13:16.49
Women's Lightweight 4+ 1. Tulsa 7:42.31 2. Oklahoma City 7:45.05
