INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --  After a hard two days on racing in the heat and finals of the NCAA Division II Championships, the Central Oklahoma women's rowing team competed in the petite final against Mercyhurst, racing for fifth in the country.

The Bronchos began their weekend at the championships on Friday with a heat against West Coast powerhouses Western Washington and Humboldt State.  After a good start, the Bronchos began to fall back from the pack and eventually finished third while also gaining good experience on the course in advance of Saturday's repechage.

The race on Saturday morning would decide the final two teams advancing to the coveted grand final, joining Humboldt State and Nova Southeastern, who had advanced directly from the heats. In the four boat race with Western Washington, Barry, and Mercyhurst, the Bronchos found themselves in the race for the two qualifying spots over the first 800 meters but would fall back a bit from eventual qualifiers Western Washington and Barry. With that result the Bronchos advanced to the petite final against the Lakers of Mercyhurst for the second year in a row.
 
During Sunday's petite final the Bronchos and Lakers traded punches early, with each crew making moves to gain an advantage. A big move by Mercyhurst during the second 500 meters put them in front for good after fending off another charge by Central during the final sprint. The Bronchos finished with a time of 7:33.889, seven seconds behind Mercyhurst. Following their third consecutive berth to the NCAA Championships, the Bronchos finished sixth in the country.

"We are really proud of what this group did this year," said head coach Andrew Derrick.  "It was smaller roster full of smaller athletes than years past so they had to work really hard for what they accomplished.  To still get a bid to compete at NCAAs is a credit to them and more importantly I think we laid some good groundwork for next season." 

This was a really good experience for our young team," said assistant coach Amy Jantzen. "Making it to the NCAA Championships is a feat in of itself and the energy with DI, DII, and DIII all competing over the same weekend is electric. There was a lot of learning that happened this weekend and it gives the girls a lot to look forward to next year."
 
"We are really excited about the future of this program with a majority of this year's NCAA group returning, a hard working novice group graduating up to varsity, and an exceptional recruiting class coming in. I am confident that the future is bright for Broncho rowing!"