SE: K-State Rowing Ready to Defend Sunflower Showdown Trophy
May 02, 2019 | Rowing, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Walk into K-State's Intercollegiate Rowing Center and you'll see a trophy sitting on a countertop in the entrance area. It's not large in size but what it means is bigger than the lake the Wildcats practice on.
The Sunflower Showdown Championship Trophy, bragging rights for the state's rowing rivals, has been on display all season at K-State's indoor facility. The Wildcats reclaimed it last year for the first time since 2014.
Only this week when Wildcats walk by, it's more than a proud memento from last season. It's motivation to keep it, as K-State looks to retain the trophy at the Dillons Sunflower Showdown on Saturday in Kansas City.
"A good portion of the team being from Kansas, I think it means a lot to all of us," senior Jordan Lund said, as more than 80 percent of the Wildcats on the team's roster hails from Kansas. "Also, last year was the first year our senior class or anyone on the team ever actually got to grab that trophy and hold it up. I think it kind of means a little bit more, all of us being homegrown. That adds fire to the fuel. The K-State/KU rivalry was born in most of us."
Walk past the trophy, down the hall to the team's workout room, where dozens of ERG machines are lined in three rows, and you can see this fire on days like Tuesday this week. Weather kept the Wildcats off the water in the morning, but it did not keep most of them from setting personal bests in a series of 1,250-meter sets.
This is not an unusual occurrence; the Wildcats have gotten faster all season. But it's also not a complete coincidence.
"I would say it's really just like any other week, as far as the mentality in practice," senior Grace Reilly said. "You're still going to give it your all every day, you're going to do everything that's asked of you to the best of your ability, but there's also that little reminder in the back of your mind that says, 'Hey, we're racing KU this weekend, so let's get ready to freaking go.'"
"We're just going into every practice saying, 'Let's get better right now,'" senior Samantha Samskey added, "so we can get to the race on Saturday and give it all we got and know we prepared the best we could."
K-State feels very prepared to repeat in the Sunflower Showdown, for a few reasons.
Number one, the trophy sits in its possession. So, the Wildcats know they can do it again; they see it every day as a reminder. Better yet, they remember how they did it: With depth. K-State won four of five races in last season's Sunflower Showdown, which was a must after the Wildcats lost the nine-point 1v8+ race.
"It was very much a team effort, a team win, and that's what was really cool about it," Reilly said. "That's what we're looking forward to again this year."
The Wildcats have also already raced against the Jayhawks this season at the Sunshine State Invitational in Florida in early April. In the regatta's grand finals, K-State beat its rival in all four races both teams had boats in. Four Wildcat boats medaled at the regatta, while three boats grabbed gold medals at the team's next outing, the SIRA Championships. Both were signs of the aforementioned depth.
Plus, the Wildcats have not backed off their training like they have in years past at this part of the season.
"We're definitely trying to keep pushing through, maintain our fitness level so that taper off for Big 12s is when we have our biggest peak," Lund said. "I think we're a lot more physically fit than we've been before. We're in a good place and all the boats are moving together really well, so by keeping hard on the training, it allows us to maintain that physical fitness longer and later into the season."
For K-State's double-digit seniors, there's also the added motivation of ending their part of the rivalry on a positive note. A win would even up their record to 2-2 against the Jayhawks and keep that trophy in the IRC for at least another year.
"We are so capable of it," Reilly said. "We have so much talent in this group and we have such a great group, overall, that to be able to win that again would be this icing on the cake to our careers."
"I think just continuing our streak this year would be a great legacy to leave behind," Samskey said. "We're realizing that our time is limited now, and this is the time to kick it in and show everyone what we have."
Walk into K-State's Intercollegiate Rowing Center and you'll see a trophy sitting on a countertop in the entrance area. It's not large in size but what it means is bigger than the lake the Wildcats practice on.
The Sunflower Showdown Championship Trophy, bragging rights for the state's rowing rivals, has been on display all season at K-State's indoor facility. The Wildcats reclaimed it last year for the first time since 2014.
Only this week when Wildcats walk by, it's more than a proud memento from last season. It's motivation to keep it, as K-State looks to retain the trophy at the Dillons Sunflower Showdown on Saturday in Kansas City.
"A good portion of the team being from Kansas, I think it means a lot to all of us," senior Jordan Lund said, as more than 80 percent of the Wildcats on the team's roster hails from Kansas. "Also, last year was the first year our senior class or anyone on the team ever actually got to grab that trophy and hold it up. I think it kind of means a little bit more, all of us being homegrown. That adds fire to the fuel. The K-State/KU rivalry was born in most of us."
Walk past the trophy, down the hall to the team's workout room, where dozens of ERG machines are lined in three rows, and you can see this fire on days like Tuesday this week. Weather kept the Wildcats off the water in the morning, but it did not keep most of them from setting personal bests in a series of 1,250-meter sets.
This is not an unusual occurrence; the Wildcats have gotten faster all season. But it's also not a complete coincidence.
"I would say it's really just like any other week, as far as the mentality in practice," senior Grace Reilly said. "You're still going to give it your all every day, you're going to do everything that's asked of you to the best of your ability, but there's also that little reminder in the back of your mind that says, 'Hey, we're racing KU this weekend, so let's get ready to freaking go.'"
"We're just going into every practice saying, 'Let's get better right now,'" senior Samantha Samskey added, "so we can get to the race on Saturday and give it all we got and know we prepared the best we could."
K-State feels very prepared to repeat in the Sunflower Showdown, for a few reasons.
Number one, the trophy sits in its possession. So, the Wildcats know they can do it again; they see it every day as a reminder. Better yet, they remember how they did it: With depth. K-State won four of five races in last season's Sunflower Showdown, which was a must after the Wildcats lost the nine-point 1v8+ race.
"It was very much a team effort, a team win, and that's what was really cool about it," Reilly said. "That's what we're looking forward to again this year."
The Wildcats have also already raced against the Jayhawks this season at the Sunshine State Invitational in Florida in early April. In the regatta's grand finals, K-State beat its rival in all four races both teams had boats in. Four Wildcat boats medaled at the regatta, while three boats grabbed gold medals at the team's next outing, the SIRA Championships. Both were signs of the aforementioned depth.
Plus, the Wildcats have not backed off their training like they have in years past at this part of the season.
"We're definitely trying to keep pushing through, maintain our fitness level so that taper off for Big 12s is when we have our biggest peak," Lund said. "I think we're a lot more physically fit than we've been before. We're in a good place and all the boats are moving together really well, so by keeping hard on the training, it allows us to maintain that physical fitness longer and later into the season."
For K-State's double-digit seniors, there's also the added motivation of ending their part of the rivalry on a positive note. A win would even up their record to 2-2 against the Jayhawks and keep that trophy in the IRC for at least another year.
"We are so capable of it," Reilly said. "We have so much talent in this group and we have such a great group, overall, that to be able to win that again would be this icing on the cake to our careers."
"I think just continuing our streak this year would be a great legacy to leave behind," Samskey said. "We're realizing that our time is limited now, and this is the time to kick it in and show everyone what we have."
Players Mentioned
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K-State Rowing | Practice and Preparation
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