The morning began like the day before with the Second 4+ hitting the course first for the Knights. The boat consisting of two seniors, two freshmen and a fifth year, secured the first win for the Black and Gold, crossing the line at 07:31.81. Behind the Knights were an additional two of four ranked programs at this year’s event with No. 18 Miami’s crew slotting in second place and No. 15 Dartmouth at third.
Moving into the first eights race of the Grand Finals day, the Third 8+ continued the winning ways for the Knights, placing first out of a highly talented field of competition. The top three crews were once again the Knights, the Hurricanes and the Big Green in the same positions with the Black and Gold finishing at 07:07.31.
The First 4+ saw some movement in the podium positions with No. 20 UNC slotting in behind Dartmouth and UCF. The Knights’ boat of five coxed by Vianna Smith crossed the finish on top with a final time of 07:41.06.
With just the top two boats left, the Second 8+ secured another win for UCF. Miami’s crew closed in on the Knights, however the crew coxed by Sophia Tursi turned on the high gear for the last 500m to push the Black and Gold into the top spot once again, securing another open water win at 06:59.79.
UCF’s top boat was the final to take to the waters and for the second day in a row, secured a clean sweep for the Knights. The Knights’ First 8+ made up with depth in every seat notched the final first-place result clocking in at 06:35.08.
The Knights completed a perfect five-for-five day on the water, clinching each win with open water to spare. Now with back-to-back Benderson Cup titles to its name, UCF boasts an impressive 20-race win streak at the Sarasota 2k between heats and Grand Finals over the past two seasons.
Following the dominant results of every race in the today's event, the Knights finished the day with a total of 132 points. No. 18 Miami followed in second place while No. 15 Dartmouth rounded out the podium at third.
