RALEIGH, N.C. - The UCF rowing team opened the racing weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the Lake Wheeler Invitational, placing among the top three in all eight of its races on Friday.
The Knights came away with three first place, three second place and two third-place finishes on Lake Wheeler.
Morning Session
In UCF’s opening session of racing, the Knights put up a strong performance, winning three of their four races. The Knights’ I Eight, II Eight and I Four finished first against Iowa, Clemson, Louisville, Navy and North Carolina, while the II Eight finished behind Iowa and ahead of North Carolina and Navy.
The UCF I Eight coxed by Julia Going and consisting of Ines Martin, Seyene Oord, Brigitte Kappler, Tegan Fookes, Hannah Lovejoy, Aryann Johnson, Liza Lutter and Martyna Wasilewska clocked in at 06:47.931, finishing ahead of Iowa (6:51.291), Clemson (6:51.591), Louisville (6:56.079), Navy (6:58.814) and North Carolina (7:01.234).
The II Eight opened its weekend with a time of 7:02.455 ahead of Iowa (7:07.153), Louisville (7:07.338), Clemson (7:09.707), Navy (7:11.375) and North Carolina (7:15.944). The boat consisted of Mackenzie Harrod, Tash Voulanas, Coralie Detre, Maja Misljenovic, Veronica Rush, Aubrie Russo, Charlotte Wiley, Martina Pischedda and Connery Cassidy.
UCF finished with a first-place time of 7:51.371 in the I Four ahead of Clemson (7:57.417), Iowa (8:02.034), North Carolina (8:05.274), Navy (8:09.956) and Louisville (8:40.519) with a boat consisting of Audrey Vilendrer, Annberlee Hothem, Mal Thorsen, Amber Tulloch and Claire Kaminski.
The II Four finished second behind Iowa (8:01.829) with a time of 8:08.553. The boat consisted of Sophie Tursi, Meagan Lukavec, Izzy Bate, Bella Montalvo and Melody Summers and finished ahead of North Carolina (8:16.275), Navy (8:19.923) and Clemson (8:27.036).
Afternoon Session
The Knights opened the second session of racing with the II Four finishing second behind No. 16 Duke. Duke finished with a time of 7:55.302 and UCF finished with a time of 8:04.834. The boat finished ahead of Georgetown (8:15.648), Navy (8:22.022) and No. 19 Washington State (8:24.774).
UCF’s I Four finished second with a time of 7:45.965 behind Duke (7:38.665). Washington State (7:54.915), Navy (7:58.177), Georgetown (8:10.637) and Louisville (8:24.223) followed behind to close out the I Four’s day.
The II Eight wrapped up its day in second place behind Duke (7:05.350) crossing the finish line at 7:10.918. Behind UCF were Washington State (7:17.866), Louisville (7:23.554), Navy (7:29.802) and Georgetown (7:32.512).
Closing out the Knights’ day on the water, the I Eight took third with a time of 7:03.441. Washington State finished first with a time of 6:53.353 followed by Duke’s time of 6:56.271. UCF was trailed by Louisville (7:10.393), Navy (7:10.867) and Georgetown (7:20.377).