Bronchos Dominate OCU Event

4/27/2013 6:14:00 PM

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 27) – After a short week of training the Central Oklahoma women's rowing team took to familiar water to face several regional competitors in the Oklahoma City University Invitational.

The morning proved successful, as all five UCO entries walked away with wins in their respective events.

A chilly and windy morning began with the Varsity Eight event, featuring the national fifth-ranked Bronchos taking on crews from OCU, Wichita State and Colorado. UCO dropped from third to fifth in the national Division II polls this week, but moved up to second place in the South Region poll.

“With such quality competition around the country, the discrepancies between the top several programs become so small,” head coach Andy Derrick said.

The Varsity Eight shot out from the start quickly and gained a boat-length advantage over Wichita State and OCU in the first 500 meters. During the last half of the race, the Bronchos would extend that lead over the rest of the field and finished with a time of 6:59.1, more than 11 seconds ahead of the second-place Shockers.

The Broncho Varsity Eight lineup included Amy VanBuskirk (cox), Michaela Stam, Jenni Hagen, Karen Hoke, Jenna Goodner, Madison Martens, Tracey Lisowe, Rachel Kliewer, and Kelsey Philhower.

The second Varsity Eight took to the water next, racing in a combined event with Novice Eights from OCU and Colorado. After finding themselves down nearly a boat-length to a surging Colorado crew, the UCO crew settled in a race pace and regained the lead near the 750-meter mark. That lead would be extended over the closing 1000 meters and the Bronchos would finish with a time of 7:19.6.

The second Varsity Eight lineup included Rachael Baalman (cox), Kalli Schwartz, Marlie Ball, Sam Godfrey, Ariel Good, Michaela Rabenhorst, Morgan Henry, Kirsten Clark, and Molly McSweeny.

The Novice Four faced several competitors in their event and battled over the entire racecourse with a formidable crew from the University of Kansas club crew. After an even start both crews jockeyed for position leading up to the half-way point. During the third 500-meter stretch the Bronchos put their bow in front for good, taking the race by just over a second.

The Novice Four lineup included Tia Reed (cox), Aleks Stogsdill, Autumn Gordon, Amy Le, and Chelsey McArthur.

The Varsity Four also found themselves in a very close race with OCU. For the majority of the race the Bronchos held a mere four-seat advantage, which was extended during the final 30 strokes of the race, leading to a three second victory for UCO.

The Varsity Four lineup included Jenna Meraz (cox), Hannah Anderson, Brittany Rawlins, Samantha Elliott, and Chelsea Robinette.

The final race of the day featured a previously untested Novice Eight lineup by UCO. Again taking on OCU and Colorado, the Broncho lineup of J'Lynn Wiewel (cox), Kalli Schwartz, Marlie Ball, Sam Godfrey, Morgan Henry, Amy Le, Autumn Gordon, Aleks Stogsdill and Molly McSweeny found themselves in a tight race once again with Colorado.

After reeling in early moves by the Colorado crew, the Bronchos slowly extended their lead during the closing quarter of the race, eventually winning by a boat-length and completing the UCO sweep.

“We as a coaching staff were very excited about having a Novice Eight race today,” said graduate assistant coach Travis Hall. “It was a lineup that includes athletes from both the Second Varsity Eight and the Novice Four and had very limited practice time prior to racing today. We're very proud of the progress our novice rowers have made over the course of the year and the results from today clearly show their maturity and racing abilities.”

The Bronchos will have a three-week break until their next racing opportunity, May 18 against Seattle Pacific. UCO will welcome the Falcons to Oklahoma City for duels on the Oklahoma River at a time to be announced.

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