Rowing Opens Regular Season at Pac-12 Challenge

Saturday, March 26

Redwood Shores, Calif.

All Day

Duke University

Pac-12 Challenge

Rowing Opens Regular Season at Pac-12 Challenge

3/26/2016 8:24:00 PM | Rowing

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By: Duke Sports Information

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – In its first event of the regular season, the No. 20 Duke rowing team competed in six races at the Pac-12 Challenge at Redwood Shores Lagoon. The Blue Devils took on No. 9 Stanford and UCLA with their V8, 2V8 and V4 and won one race, the V4 versus the Bruins.

“First, we did a great job in the four,” head coach Megan Cooke Carcagno said. “Their win was vital to our effort as a team. I would say today was hard, because going up against great programs really puts our team to the test. Stanford and Cal are always fast. UCLA looked tough today as well. Today was a great opportunity to test our road game, and I think we learned a lot.”

During the morning session, the Blue Devils faced the Bruins. The action started with the V8 coming in second to UCLA with the Bruins finishing in 6:30.3 and the Blue Devils 6:36.7. UCLA also edged Duke in the 2V8, 6:38.7 to 6:42.5.

The morning session wrapped up with the Blue Devils' victory as the V4 outpaced the Bruins, 7:21.5 to 7:33.0. It was the second straight victory for the V4 as the boat finished ahead of Clemson and UNC at last weekend's Carolina Cup.

In afternoon segment, Duke faced No. 9 Stanford in the same three races in the same order. The Blue Devil V8 was defeated by the Cardinal crew, 6:36.5 to 7:04.5. Duke's 2V8 (6:54.1 to 7:19.2) and V4 (7:52.0 to 8:07.6) also fell to Stanford.

“I want to thank our support staff,” Cooke Carcagno added. “They did a tremendous job. Our volunteer boatman Simon rigged more than 12 hours. [Chuck [Rodosky] and Chase [Graham] did a great job readying their boats. Meaghan [McMillen/athletic trainer] was top notch. We will continue to train hard. We're going to continue to see hard competition all spring, which is great. You have to measure yourself against the best.”

The Blue Devils have a weekend off before racing at the Virginia Dual on Saturday, April 9.

Morning Results:

V8
1- UCLA: 6:30.3
2- Duke: 6:36.7

2V8
1- UCLA: 6:38.7
2- Duke: 6:42.5

V4
1- Duke: 7:21.5
2- UCLA: 7:33.0

Afternoon Results:
V8
1- Stanford: 6:36.5
2- Duke: 7:04.5

2V8
1- Stanford: 6:54.1
2- Duke: 7:19.2

V4
1- Stanford: 7:52.0
2- Duke: 8:07.6

Duke Lineups:

V8
Simone Pitre, Isabel Ruby-Hill, Sophie Simister, Alex Stonehill, Jessica Findlay, Karley Whelan, Katie Dukovich, Katherine Maitland and Phoebe Donovan