SE: K-State Rowing Excited to Carry Momentum, Confidence from Sunflower Showdown into Big 12 Championship
May 08, 2018 | Rowing, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Life has been good inside the K-State Indoor Rowing Facility lately, for a number of reasons.
The first two, a pair of trophies, sit on the counter in the IRC's lobby, shining proof of K-State's accomplishments on and off the water.
K-State won back the Sunflower Showdown Trophy for the first time since 2014 when it beat Kansas, 13-9, on April 28.
"We hadn't done it in a while, so it was nice to get the cup back because it's just like any other good ole K-State rivalry," sophomore Mikaela Bennett said, "everyone loves to beat KU."
The Wildcats, who compete at the Big 12 Championship this weekend in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, won four of the five races against the Jayhawks. Three of K-State's victories were by at least seven seconds. K-State's second varsity eight, with two seniors in Marissa Butrum and Samantha Bendrick, clinched the victory by winning its race by more than 12 seconds.
"It was probably one of the best feelings to date in my rowing career," said junior Allie Kleinsmith, the second varsity eight's coxswain. "Beating KU and getting that trophy back, knowing what it means as a school, especially having two seniors in my boat and it being their last time ever going against KU, it was really special and emotional for all of us in the boat to get it back."
A few days later, K-State's rowing team received the Wildcat Cup at the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee-led Powercat Choice Awards. It marked the first time the rowing program had won the Wildcat Cup, a competition between all of K-State's teams that considers five core areas of student-athlete well-being: academics, athletics, career, personal and service.
The cherry on top of it all has been the weather recently. After a spring season filled with wintry conditions, the Wildcats have been able to enjoy mostly flat water and warm temperatures since beating their rival.
Simply put, Kleinsmith said, "It's kind of like we're on cloud nine right now."
Head coach Patrick Sweeney came away from K-State's latest competition high on his team as well. Specifically, he was impressed by how much the boats have improved despite the lack of practice on the water this season.
"They trained really hard this year, so physically they're in good shape but technically we've been trying to put it together and they're getting better and better every time we get water time," he said. "It's really improving fast. That side of it is impressive, how they've really focused."
"I feel like this year we just have really good team chemistry," added Bennett. "Even though we have moved boats a lot and not been on the water as much, I feel like when we're out there we do a good job of utilizing our time and just working together."
Junior Taylor DeWeese said the team's ability to get better without the typical water time stems from their hard work off of it. DeWeese said assistant coach Hanna Wiltfong reminded the team of all its grueling indoor work before the dual with Kansas.
"Before we went out, Coach H told us, 'This is for all the stairs that you do. This is for all the circuits that you ran. This is where it shows and pays off,'" DeWeese said. "The boats are coming together really well, and I think the coaches are really pleased with how we're starting to perform. All the girls are very excited."
The Wildcats' excitement increased several notches after topping Kansas, as did their confidence heading into the Big 12 Championship.
"I do think we all feel a lot better, a lot more confident going into Big 12s, especially coming off the KU win. It's like, 'We beat KU, that means we can beat them again,' and we're only getting better and stronger and fitter from that race to Big 12s," Kleinsmith said. "I think going into Big 12s the biggest thing is not to underestimate ourselves."
Along with the competition, K-State is also familiar with the Oak Ridge course it will race on. The Wildcats competed there less than a month ago, establishing what they hope is a beneficial comfort level when they return.
"We're really excited. The weather's been good, so we've been outside a lot and we've been able to improve a lot on technique," Bennett said. "I think we're just really looking forward to proving ourselves, kind of like a little bit of an underdog because we don't have as much water time and we don't necessarily have the experience that some other teams have, but I think we're excited to show how far we've really progressed."
Life has been good inside the K-State Indoor Rowing Facility lately, for a number of reasons.
The first two, a pair of trophies, sit on the counter in the IRC's lobby, shining proof of K-State's accomplishments on and off the water.
K-State won back the Sunflower Showdown Trophy for the first time since 2014 when it beat Kansas, 13-9, on April 28.
"We hadn't done it in a while, so it was nice to get the cup back because it's just like any other good ole K-State rivalry," sophomore Mikaela Bennett said, "everyone loves to beat KU."
The Wildcats, who compete at the Big 12 Championship this weekend in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, won four of the five races against the Jayhawks. Three of K-State's victories were by at least seven seconds. K-State's second varsity eight, with two seniors in Marissa Butrum and Samantha Bendrick, clinched the victory by winning its race by more than 12 seconds.
"It was probably one of the best feelings to date in my rowing career," said junior Allie Kleinsmith, the second varsity eight's coxswain. "Beating KU and getting that trophy back, knowing what it means as a school, especially having two seniors in my boat and it being their last time ever going against KU, it was really special and emotional for all of us in the boat to get it back."
A few days later, K-State's rowing team received the Wildcat Cup at the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee-led Powercat Choice Awards. It marked the first time the rowing program had won the Wildcat Cup, a competition between all of K-State's teams that considers five core areas of student-athlete well-being: academics, athletics, career, personal and service.
The cherry on top of it all has been the weather recently. After a spring season filled with wintry conditions, the Wildcats have been able to enjoy mostly flat water and warm temperatures since beating their rival.
Simply put, Kleinsmith said, "It's kind of like we're on cloud nine right now."
Head coach Patrick Sweeney came away from K-State's latest competition high on his team as well. Specifically, he was impressed by how much the boats have improved despite the lack of practice on the water this season.
"They trained really hard this year, so physically they're in good shape but technically we've been trying to put it together and they're getting better and better every time we get water time," he said. "It's really improving fast. That side of it is impressive, how they've really focused."
"I feel like this year we just have really good team chemistry," added Bennett. "Even though we have moved boats a lot and not been on the water as much, I feel like when we're out there we do a good job of utilizing our time and just working together."
Junior Taylor DeWeese said the team's ability to get better without the typical water time stems from their hard work off of it. DeWeese said assistant coach Hanna Wiltfong reminded the team of all its grueling indoor work before the dual with Kansas.
"Before we went out, Coach H told us, 'This is for all the stairs that you do. This is for all the circuits that you ran. This is where it shows and pays off,'" DeWeese said. "The boats are coming together really well, and I think the coaches are really pleased with how we're starting to perform. All the girls are very excited."
The Wildcats' excitement increased several notches after topping Kansas, as did their confidence heading into the Big 12 Championship.
"I do think we all feel a lot better, a lot more confident going into Big 12s, especially coming off the KU win. It's like, 'We beat KU, that means we can beat them again,' and we're only getting better and stronger and fitter from that race to Big 12s," Kleinsmith said. "I think going into Big 12s the biggest thing is not to underestimate ourselves."
Along with the competition, K-State is also familiar with the Oak Ridge course it will race on. The Wildcats competed there less than a month ago, establishing what they hope is a beneficial comfort level when they return.
"We're really excited. The weather's been good, so we've been outside a lot and we've been able to improve a lot on technique," Bennett said. "I think we're just really looking forward to proving ourselves, kind of like a little bit of an underdog because we don't have as much water time and we don't necessarily have the experience that some other teams have, but I think we're excited to show how far we've really progressed."
K-State Rowing | Dec. 4 Pre-Season Hype
Thursday, December 04
K-State Rowing | Happy Thanksgiving
Friday, November 28
K-State Rowing | Practice and Preparation
Tuesday, November 11
K-State Rowing | Head of the Kansas Race Recap
Tuesday, November 11
