March 24, 2007
Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - UCF women's rowing returned to action Saturday morning in dominating fashion, earning wins in all six events to claim the women's trophy at the UCF-hosted Petrakis Cup on nearby Lake Pickett.
With some help from the UCF men's rowing club, the Black and Gold was able to notch its sixth overall victory in the annual battle between amongst the state's major rowing programs, which also included Jacksonville and Miami this past year. UCF also won the Petrakis Cup in '93, '96, 00', '02, and '05. The overall title at the Petrakis Cup also factors in points earned not only from the women's varsity program, but also the novice women's squad and the men's rowing club entries.
It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning in central Florida as the Knights were set to face-off against Embry-Riddle, Jacksonville, Miami and Tulane. After a strong performance in last weekend's Texas Longhorn Invitational in Austin, UCF was looking to keep its women's varsity eight squad undefeated on the season.
The first race for the Knights was the biggest of the day, the women's varsity eight set to start at 8:15 a.m. Right from the beginning, the UCF boats proved to be hard to beat, as they were able to pull out to a considerable lead over Miami. They finally finished with close to an 11-second advantage over the Hurricanes for their first victory of the day.
The rest of the morning went the same way, with the biggest victory for the Knights coming in the women's novice eight race, defeating the Hurricanes again with a 1:07 advantage. UCF was easily able to clinch the Mary B. Petrakis women's trophy early, but to earn an overall points win and its sixth Petrakis Cup victory, it would need some help from UCF's partnering men's club team.
Through out the day the JU Dolphins had the edge over the Knights, until the final men's race of the day. The race was delayed for 20 minutes for strong winds. When they finally calmed down, the UCF club team was able to pull out a surprise victory over Jacksonville to guarantee UCF its sixth Petrakis Cup in the 15-year history of the event. With the overall points championship already clinched, the Knights were able to take the top two spots in the final race of the day, the women's novice four, to end an amazing afternoon for UCF rowing.
The Knights will split-up next weekend as the lightweight squad will travel to Princeton, N.J., to take on the Princeton Tigers and MIT Saturday, April 7. The open-weight squad will travel to Charlottesville, Va., and look to keep its varsity eight squad undefeated as UCF goes up against the Michigan State Spartans, Duke Blue Devils and the Virginia Cavaliers.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF athletics.
Men's Varsity Eight1. Jacksonville - 6:06.642. Tulane - 6:16.433. UCF Club Team - 6:23:53
Women's Varsity Eight1. UCF - 6:36.62. Miami (Fla.) - 6:47.023. UCF (Lts.) - 7:02.24. Jacksonville - 7:07.45. Tulane - NTT
Men's Second Varsity Eight1. Jacksonville - 6:22.192. UCF Club Team - 6:55.82
Women's Second Varsity Eight1. UCF - 6:41.52. Miami (Fla.) - 6:53.683. Jacksonville - 7:28.57
Men's Novice Eight1. Jacksonville - 6:17.702. Tulane - 6:50.043. UCF "A" Club Team - 7:01.094. UCF "B" Club Team - 8:29.00
Women's Novice Eight1. UCF - 7:00.502. Miami (Fla.) - 8:07.02
Men's Varsity Four1. Jacksonville - 6:56.582. Tulane - 7:01.483. UCF "A" Club Team - 7:26.24. Embry-Riddle "B" - 7:30.715. UCF "B" Club Team - 7:45.286. Embry-Riddle - 7:53.01
Women's Varsity Four1. UCF "A" - 7:30.42. Jacksonville - 7:33.313. UCF "B" - 7:41.74. Miami (Fla.) - 7:51.785. Tulane - 8:13.736. Embry-Riddle - 8:35.41
Men's Lightweight Eight1. Jacksonville - 6:13.142. UCF Club Team - 6:30.75
Women's Lightweight Four1. UCF "B" - 7:55.82. UCF "A" - 8:11.833. Jacksonville - 8:47.93
Men's Novice Four1. UCF "A" Club Team - 7:13.722. Jacksonville - 7:26.633. Tulane - 7:40.204. UCF "B" Club Team - 7:52.775. Embry-Riddle - 8:01.33
Women's Novice Four1. UCF "B" - 8:02.22. UCF "A" - 8:06.993. Miami (Fla.) - 8:45.674. Jacksonville - 9:08.425. Tulane - 9:22.43
Men's Point TrophyJacksonville University
Women's Point TrophyUCF
Overall Point TrophyUCF