SARASOTA, Fla. – The Duke Second Varsity Eight and Varsity Four each finished third in their respective C Final and the Blue Devils placed 16th in the team standings as three days of competition at the NCAA Rowing Championships concluded Sunday at Nathan Benderson Park.
Duke's Varsity Four kicked off the morning with a third-place time of 7:21.094 in the V4 C Final. A tightly contested race saw five teams within 2.5 seconds of one another at the 1,000-meter mark before winner SMU and runner-up Syracuse began to separate down the course's final stretch. The Blue Devils were able to narrowly hold off Oregon State (7:21.762) and Penn (7:22.658). It marked the second time Duke's V4 competed in an NCAA C Final (2016).
The Second Varsity Eight followed with a third-place performance of its own, crossing the line at 6:42.825. One of the top photo finishes of the day included the second, third and fourth-place boats register times in a 2.7-second gap, as Oregon State (6:41.141) barely held off Duke, but the Blue Devils put their bow ball just ahead of Syracuse (6:43.851). The Duke 2V8 has competed in the C Final at all four NCAA Championships that the program has appeared in.
The Blue Devils' season concluded with the Varsity Eight placing fourth in its C Final, recording a time of 6:35.023. Yet another close finish featured heavy movement between boats in the final 500 meters, as each of the six crews competing were within four seconds of one another at the 1,500-meter point. Duke would finish just behind Oregon State (6:33.074) and USC (6:33.878) but less than a full second in front of Syracuse (6:35.721).
"I'm proud of our team's efforts this weekend," said head coach
Megan Cooke Carcagno. "The NCAA Championships continues to get faster every year, so being a part of it is a testament to our continued growth and determination. It was great to see us finish higher than Syracuse, a team that beat us at the ACC Championship two weeks ago. Obviously, I'm disappointed to not finish higher as a team. We came into this year wanting a top-10 performance and came up short. We will get back to work this summer and in the fall. We'll be back and better."
Duke tallied 45 points as a team on Sunday, equaling its total from the 2016 NCAA Championships. This marks the third consecutive championships that the Blue Devils finished 16th in the team standings.
Team Standings (Point Total)
1. Texas (124*)
2. Stanford (124*)
3. Princeton (118)
4. Washington (112)
5. Yale (102)
6. California (101)
7. Brown (100)
8. Ohio State (99)
9. Virginia (82)
10. Michigan (73)
11. Penn (72*)
12. SMU (72*)
13. Rutgers (64)
14. Oregon St (52)
15. USC (47)
16. Duke (45)
17. Syracuse (41)
18. Gonzaga (28)
19. Boston University (23)
20. Northeastern (17)
21. Rhode Island (15)
22. Jacksonville (7)
*Based on place finish in the Varsity Eight
V8+ C Final
1. Rutgers – 6:31.963
2. Oregon State – 6:33.074
3. USC – 6:33.878
4. Duke – 6:35.023
5. Syracuse – 6:35.721
6. Gonzaga – 6:41.154
2V8+ C Final
1. Rutgers – 6:37.800
2. Oregon State – 6:41.141
3. Duke – 6:42.825
4. Syracuse – 6:43.851
5. USC – 6:44.896
6. Boston University – 6:50.436
V4+ C Final
1. SMU – 7:14.960
2. Syracuse – 7:16.802
3. Duke – 7:21.094
4. Oregon State – 7:21.762
5. Penn – 7:22.658
6. Gonzaga – 7:30.656
Lineups
V8 –
Anya Hasija (Coxswain),
Lauren Sizemore (Stroke),
Amelia Shunk,
Sydney Johnson,
Ella Harris,
Megan Lee,
Kathryn Nash,
Allison Carr,
Gabriella Salvati (Bow)
2V8 –
Ithika Senthilnathan (Coxswain),
Brenna Morley (Stroke),
Caeley Tierney,
Grace Butero,
Erin Heyeck,
Lily Abbott,
Olivia Hunt,
Emilie Lijesen,
Mollie Nicol (Bow)
V4 –
Audrey Kline (Coxswain),
Rivca Chaver (Stroke),
Sydney Cikovic,
Meera Chakrabarti,
Stella Haley (Bow)
#GoDuke