Women's Rowing 4/16/2022 7:56:00 PM Chris Brannick

UCO Among The Best At SIRA Championships

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Central Oklahoma competed in more than a dozen races this weekend at the SIRA Championships and the second-ranked Bronchos had solid performances throughout the two-day event on Melton Lake.

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Central Oklahoma's Varsity 8+ finished fifth in the A Final Saturday to wrap up the weekend. UCO's Varsity 4+ finished fourth in the A Final before that. The Bronchos also got a third-place finish by the Novice 4+ boat in the Saturday's finals.

"It was a good weekend of racing against some very tough competition," UCO head rowing coach Brian Ebke said. "We didn't get all the results we wanted but we got to see some good things and it's all about getting better as we get into the month of May."

UCO's eights opened the weekend with a solid run in the time trials on Friday afternoon. The boat, led by coxswain Yesenia Gil-Salazar, raced to a 6:42.86 second-place finish behind Wisconsin's 6:36.91. The Bronchos edged out Division I competition Purdue, Kansas State, and Virginia, as well as DII competition Embry Riddle and Florida Tech.

Central's fours, led by Madisyn Kitchell, finished third in the time trials on Friday behind Wisconsin and Embry Riddle. The Bronchos crossed the finish line in 7:42.03.

UCO's novice fours had a big showing on Friday. The boat led by Hannah Legleiter, had the fastest time in the group at 7:35.29, edging out the likes of Kansas State, Florida, Wisconsin, Florida State, Purdue, Georgia Tech, TCU and more. There were 19 boats in the group and UCO finished first.

The novices returned later Friday for their semifinals and UCO took second in this group with a time of 8:06.06 behind Wisconsin and in front of Florida State, TCU and Georgia.

Saturday, the varsity squads got back on the water for their semifinal races. Both the eights (6:59.07) and the fours (7:48.96) finished second.

The championships wrapped up Saturday with the Bronchos taking fifth in the V8+ Finals with a time of 7:15.38. Central finished fourth in the V4+ Finals with a time of 7:56.24.

Central Oklahoma also had the opportunity to roll out some pairs this weekend. Anya Landrowski and Keondra Whisenhunt finished fourth in the time trials and sixth in Saturday's final. Allie Schein and Macie Cohlmia finished sixth in both Friday's trials and Saturday's final.

UCO is now officially enthralled in championship season. Following this weekend's racing, the Bronchos will take two weeks off before heading to Dexter, Oregon for the 2022 GNAC Championships looking to secure a spot in the NCAA Division II women's rowing national championships May 27 in Sarasota, Florida.

Central Oklahoma, ranked No. 2 in the latest CRCA Poll, has won four consecutive Varsity 8+ national titles and two Varsity 4+ crowns in a row. The Bronchos won the 2018, 2019 and 2021 NCAA national team championships as well.

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Players Mentioned

Yesenia Gil-Salazar: Sophomore; Varsity

Madisyn Kitchell: 5' 6"; Senior; Varsity

Keondra Whisenhunt: Sophomore; Varsity

Macie Cohlmia: 5' 4"; Freshman

Anya Landrowski: 5' 10"; Freshman

Hannah Legleiter: 5' 3"; Freshman

Allie Schein: 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Yesenia Gil-Salazar
: Sophomore; Varsity

Madisyn Kitchell
: 5' 6"; Senior; Varsity

Keondra Whisenhunt
: Sophomore; Varsity

Macie Cohlmia
: 5' 4"; Freshman

Anya Landrowski
: 5' 10"; Freshman

Hannah Legleiter
: 5' 3"; Freshman

Allie Schein
: 5' 6"; Freshman