Franki Noble
A year of competing against the best in the nation, breaking records and being crowned as conference champions, the Knights’ second year in the Big 12 was one for the record books. Many moments throughout the spring season solidified the mark of a new era for UCF rowing.
KNIGHTS IN THE RANKS
During the first week of the spring season, the Knights learned that they had cracked into the Pocock CRCA Poll for the first time in program history as a team at No. 25. With a goal set of being No. 15 in the nation, the Black and Gold began to climb up the ranks. The Knights sat at No. 25 for two weeks before making the jump to No. 17 for the week of April 1. Immediately following their impressive rise, the following week the UCF crew jumped two spots to No. 15, a position they held for seven weeks before reaching their peak at No. 14 the week before the NCAA Championship.
Prior to the 2024-25 campaign, the Knights had only appeared in the polls as individual boats. This year's team marked the first to be ranked for almost the entirety of the season at 12 consecutive weeks. The dozen weeks spent on the poll broke the previous record held by the First 8+ of six consecutive weeks back in 2007.
TOP COMPETITION
As a ranked squad, the Black and Gold faced many competitors who also held their own ranks. At Nathan Benderson Park for the Sarasota 2K, the Knights met their first pair of ranked foes. On the day of Grand Finals, UCF faced then No. 18 Alabama and No. 19 North Carolina to begin their first-ranked competition. The Knights saw their first glimpse of success as they swept all races on the day to win the Benderson Cup.
The next competitors the Knights faced who made steady appearances on the CRCA polls all year was at the Rocky Top Invitational in Oak Ridge. Tenn. UCF took on ranked competitors in then No. 5 Tennesee, No. 14 Duke and No. 20 North Carolina once again. The Knights made waves defeating a higher-ranked Duke in several races including the First 4+ and First 8+. Advancing to the Grand Finals, the Black and Gold continued to push, securing second place behind the accomplished Volunteers by less than ten seconds in every race.
Matchups with established crews did not end there. The Knights made a trip to Austin, Texas to face the three-time National Champions in Texas who was then ranked at No. 1 as well as the No. 2 squad in Stanford. The Black and Gold topped then No. 22 Oklahoma in every race on the day, securing themselves in third place at the Longhorn Invitational.
THE BIG 12'S TOP CREWS
Before beginning this season, UCF had one Big 12 Boat of the Week title under its belt. The Knights ended this season with four in the team’s history, three of which came from this year alone.
The first to receive the conference honor was the First 8+ following the sweep of the Sarasota 2k in early April then subsequently named boat of the week on April 2. The awarded crew comprised of junior coxswain Audrey Vilendrer, as well as freshman Sofia Naboni Nevado, fifth-year Madlen Markova, senior Bella Montalvo, sophomore Brigitte Kappler, fifth-year Elisa Faiola, freshman Lucy Buckingham, junior Natasjia Voulanas and senior Hannah Lovejoy. The boat finished the regatta with a stellar time of 6:37.31 during heats and 6:27.05 in their Grand Final to secure the conference title. The crew continued to dominate as they retained the honor as they were named the top-performing crew for a second consecutive week following the Rocky Top Invitational. The race saw the Big 12’s best record a time of 6:39.902 on day one and 06:29.280 the next day while competing against two high-ranked crews in Tennessee and Duke.
For the second week in a row, our I Eight has been named the @big12conference Boat of the Week 😤 pic.twitter.com/iojccS4t0l
— UCF Rowing (@UCF_Rowing) April 9, 2025
The next boat to receive the honor was the First 4+ on the week of April 30. The boat consisting of junior coxswain Sophia Tursi alongside junior Cate Maloney, freshman Sofia Palacios, freshman Kesha Bruinette and sophomore Amber Tulloch marked the first crew of five to receive the conference award for the Black and Gold. The First 4+ claimed the title after an open-water win at the Longhorn Invitational with a time of 07:49.054.
Another Boat of the Week title for the No. 15 Knights ⚔️
— UCF Rowing (@UCF_Rowing) April 30, 2025
Shoutout to our First 4+ for receiving the @Big12Conference honor 👊 pic.twitter.com/udARnrUOLu
CONFERENCE CHAMPS
The Knights made their second trip to Nathan Benderson Park on May 18 with one goal in mind, a Big 12 Championship. The only ranked competitor at the conference championship, the Black and Gold made the trek to their home course with the hopes of securing the first Big 12 title in program history.
The historic day saw all UCF boats crossing the finish first, securing a clean sweep to claim gold. The Third 8+ set the momentum to start the races claiming the first victory of the day with a 15.8-second lead ahead of their Big 12 foes. The Second 4+ took to the water next, completing the task with a dominant time of 07:33.980. There was no stopping the Knights as the First 4+ competed next, making their mark crossing the finish at 07:22.231. To complete the sweep, the Second 8+ and First 8+ both finished their respective races with plenty of open water to spare.
With the race in their rearview, every UCF rower secured a gold medal around their neck and lifted a new piece of hardware to be displayed at the UCF Intercollegiate Rowing Center.
BIG 12 RECOGNITION
Following the championship title, several Knights received different conference honors. Announced at the conclusion of the Big 12 Championship, six rowers from UCF were announced to the All-Big 12 Team. Those announced to the list included Elisa Faiola, Luna Kuiper, Lucy Buckingham, Hannah Lovejoy, Madlen Markova and Brigitte Kappler, all members of the First 8+
In addition to the rowers named to the All-Big 12 Team, three members of the Black and Gold received individual awards from the league. Hannah Lovejoy, an integral part of the First 8+ sitting in the bow seat at the Big 12 Championship, was named the Big 12 Rower of the Year, the highest achievement for an individual athlete. Lovejoy became the first Knight to be named to the top of the Big 12. Freshman Lucy Buckingham earned the honor of Newcomer of the Year after rowing in the First 8+ all season. As well as getting the nod from the conference, Buckingham was one of ten rowers from the Big 12 selected to the For Stars Network Spring Athlete Watchlist earlier in the spring. To round out the awards, Head Coach Mara Allen was recognized as the Big 12 Coach of the Year in just her second year at the helm of the program. A first-time head coach, Allen led the Knights to jump from sixth place to being crowned the winners of the Big 12 in a year’s difference.
HISTORY MADE AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
After a clean sweep at the Big 12 Championship, the Knights received their first automatic bid to the NCAA Championship since winning the American Athletic Conference title five years in a row from 2015 to 2019. Previously, the Black and Gold had finished at a high of 18 as a team in 2019 and a highest boat finish of 14 with the First 4+ in the same year.
Knowing what they had to accomplish, the Knights made history on day one of the highest competition advancing all boats to the C Finals for the first time in UCF history. The record-breaking did not finish there as the First 4+ made program history during their final as they finished in 13th place, marking the highest finish for a boat from the Black and Gold. The Second 8+ and First 8+ finished in 14th and 15th place respectively, securing a team finish in 15th place making history once again.
"I'm so proud of this team. They've come such a long way from last year. They've put in so much hard work and had such a great effort and attitude. We set out to be top 15 in the country and to see that come to fruition is incredibly fulfilling."
Mara AllenUCF Rowing Head CoachLOVEJOY IS AN ALL-AMERICAN
At the completion of the season, Big 12 Rower of the Year Hannah Lovejoy was not done racking up the accolades. After a successful junior year, Lovejoy received an All-American Honorable Mention for the first time in her colligate career. The Ohio native joined a group of 57 athletes to earn the distinction, while 10 of which earned the honorable mention nod. Lovejoy is only one of four Knights to receive an All-American honor, following in the footsteps of Julie Poulsen who was named an honorable mention in 2018, Chelsey Lauzon who was named to the Second Team All-American in 2012 and UCF Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Krystina Sarff who was named to the All-American group for three consecutive years from 2006-2008.