WEST WINDSOR, N.J - All boats from UCF rowing are headed to C/D Semifinals following three consecutive fourth-place finishes on day one of the NCAA Championship.
The morning began with the First 8+ consisting of junior coxswain Audrey Vilendrer alongside freshman Sofia Naboni Nevado, fifth-year Madlen Markova, sophomore Brigitte Kappler, sophomore Reese Springer, freshman Lucy Buckingham, fifth-year Elisa Faiola, freshman Luna Kuiper and junior Hannah Lovejoy. The boat held a consistent rate throughout a large portion of the race before increasing the gap between them and the next nearest crew. The Black and Gold crossed the finish fourth with their fastest time of the season at 06:19.284.
The Second 8+ kept the same momentum as they became the second UCF boat to finish in fourth. The crew included senior coxswain Julia Going with freshman Sofia Scott, junior Natasjia Voulanas, sophomore Ines Martin, sophomore Maja Misljenovic, junior Veronica Rush, senior Bella Montalvo, senior Claire Kaminski and junior Amalie Thorsen. The crew of nine also crossed the line at their season best, finishing with a time of 06:34.631.
The final UCF boat to race, the First 4+ was composed of junior coxswain Sophia Tursi as well as junior Cate Maloney, freshman Sofia Palacios, freshman Kesha Bruinette and sophomore Amber Tulloch. The sole four boat to race, the Knights finished off the day securing another fourth place finish.
TOMORROW’S SCHEDULE
The Knights will be competing to see which final they will land in following the C/D Semifinals beginning Saturday morning.
The first race for UCF will be the First 8+ C/D Semifinal at 9:12 a.m. The Black and Gold will face competition in Rhode Island, Boston University, Harvard University and Oregon State. It will be the first time all season that UCF will take on the latter half.
Next up, the Second 8+ will compete in their semifinal slated to begin at 9:28 a.m. Fellow crews in the C/D Semifinal include Boston University, the University of Pennsylvania, Indiana and Fairfield. The morning race will be the Knights’ introduction to the Quakers and Hoosiers this season.
In the final race of the day for the Black and Gold, the First 4+ will compete against Northeastern, Oregon State, Indiana and Fairfield in their semifinal beginning at 9:36 a.m.
The top three of each C/D Semifinal will advance to the Upper Final as the remainder will compete in the Lower Final.
All of Saturday’s races will be streamed on a live webcast that can be found here. Live stats for the semifinals as well as heatsheets can be accessed here.