ORLANDO - The UCF rowing team will head to Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla. for the Big 12 Championship on Sunday, May 18.
The event is set to make history as no crew participating has ever been crowned the Big 12 Champions. The Knights will take on Kansas, Kansas State, West Virginia, Old Dominion, and Tulsa.
The Black and Gold have experience against their Big 12 foes as they competed against each squad at the Sarasota 2k earlier this season in both heats and finals. UCF bested all crews that weekend, sweeping all races to secure the Benderson Cup.
In the Grand Finals, the III Eight topped the Jayhawks by 17.2 seconds, slotting in at 06:52.58. The II Four crossed the line before both Kansas and Tulsa in their race, finishing at 07:27.27. The I Four competed against Kansas State finishing at 07:18.29 to the Wildcats’ 07:23.28. The I Eight and II Eight were the only Big 12 crews to advance to the Grand Finals in their respective race. UCF faced West Virginia and Old Dominion in heat races the day prior.
UCF will be the only ranked team to compete in this weekend’s event. The crew is coming off of the sixth consecutive week ranked at No. 15 with 1346 points. They are the only crew out of the six to be featured on the Pocock CRCA poll all season.
Racing is slated to begin at 9:00 a.m. with the III Four exhibition race. 15 minutes later, the II Eight will take to the water to begin official racing. The fours will compete next with the II Four at 9:30 a.m. and the I Four at 9:45 a.m. The II Eight race will begin at 10:00 a.m., then the I Eight will close out the day at 10:15 a.m.
The race will be broadcast live on ESPN+ beginning at 8:55 a.m. Race notes can be found here.