ORLANDO – UCF rowing’s II Eight has been named Big 12 Boat of the Week after a successful performance at the Sunshine State Invitational last weekend.
UCF opened its weekend with a first-place finish on Friday in the prelims before another first-place grand final finish to lead the Knights to a second-place overall team finish for the weekend in Sarasota. It was the third consecutive year the Black and Gold have swept the II Eight competition.
“I’m very proud of this boat,” head coach Mara Allen said. “They made the most of the weekend and their training, which allowed them to respond well to the pressures of race day and against great competition.”
The Knights’ II Eight started the Easter weekend with a six-second finish over Iowa to claim first place in their heat race Friday afternoon. UCF’s first-place time of 6:55.74 bested Iowa’s time of 7:01.56. North Carolina (7:01.56), Kansas (7:10.03), Louisville (7:12.1), UMass (7:22.16), Stetson (7:34.45) and Old Dominion (7:43.95) followed behind.
UCF kept the momentum going with the II Eight, edging out Miami in the Grand Final. The Knights posted a time of 6:38.58 for a four-seat finish over the Hurricanes (6:39.88). The Hawkeyes followed behind with a time of 6:41.0 along with the Michigan State Spartans (6:46.57), North Carolina Tar Heels (6:47.41), Kansas Jayhawks (6:50.68), Boston College Eagles (6:51.18) and the Louisville Cardinals (6:52.24).
Coxswain – Julia Going
8 – Connery Cassidy
7 – Tash Voulanas
6 – Seyene Oord
5 – Veronica Rush
4 – Aubrie Russo
3 – Charlotte Wiley
2 – Coralie Detre
1 – Martina Pischedda
UCF will be back in action at Nathan Benderson Park for the Big 10 Invitational on April 19 and 20.