K-State Earns Strong Showing at Tulsa Triangular

CATOOSA, Okla. – The Kansas State women's rowing team received first-place finishes from their two Varsity Four boats, as the Wildcats turned in a strong performance at the Tulsa Triangular on Saturday morning (April 10) at the J. Bird Sr., Shell Nest on the Verdigris River.

In addition to the first-place finishes by the Varsity Four and Second Varsity Four crews, which each won their respective races by 20 seconds or more, the Wildcats also earned a second-place finish in the Second Varsity Eight race and placed third in the Varsity Eight race.

"The first four was dominant and consistent," said head coach Pat Sweeney. "They've continued to learn from race to race. Today was a good performance and we will work to build from it.

"We are pleased with the second four. They are a young boat. Today was a good day for them to see their improvement across the season and gain confidence in what they are capable of."

The performance at the Tulsa Triangular was impressive since it came against such strong competition, as Tulsa is currently receiving votes (17) in the latest Pocock CRCA Top 20 poll, while Central Oklahoma rates among the best teams in Division II, placing No. 1 in the latest West Region rankings.

"There is still a lot of speed to be found within these crews," said Sweeney. "Today was a step forward for the entire team."

The Tulsa Triangular was K-State's third race of the season and the last before the Wildcats turn their attention to their signature races of the season against Kansas in the annual Dillons Sunflower Showdown on Saturday, May 1 and the Big 12 Championships on Sunday, May 16.

The reigning Big 12 co-Boat of the Week, the Varsity Four continued their impressive start to the 2021 racing season with a first-place finish in the Invitational's second race of the day, posting a time of 9:01.92 to easily defeat crews from Central Oklahoma (9:23.38) and Tulsa (9:33.34) by more than 21 and 31 seconds, respectively. The Varsity Four included redshirt senior Logan Frost, sophomore Ellie Hahn, sophomore Elizabeth Sloan, sophomore Kate Odgers and sophomore coxswain Kaitlyn Henke.

The Varsity Four is coming off a bronze-medal performance in the Grand Finals of the Varsity Four race at the Sunshine State Invitational on April 3 in Sarasota, Florida. They also claimed a first-place finish to open the season at the Creighton Duels on March 27.

Despite their success this season, sophomore Kate Odgers said that the Varsity Four took the 'underdog' mentality heading into today's race and it proved to be the right approach in the dominant victory.

"Going into the race, I think our whole boat really felt like the underdog just based off times we had seen from these other schools," said Odgers. "But once they called the start we just took off and within the first 100 meters we had walked through both boats and were gaining open water. I was kind of shocked we had lost them so quick then our lead just kept growing. At the 1000, we were all waiting for one of the boats to make a move up on us, but again our lead just kept growing."

Odgers said once they were comfortably ahead, they changed their focus to areas where they can improve.

"Around the 1250, we really focused in on our blade-work and made a push," said Odgers. "Our boat had been struggling in the third 500 of the race so we were really set on improving that portion and with the help of (sophomore Kaitlyn) Henke's calls we were able to be a lot more consistent in our numbers which we were all really happy about.

"Like I said earlier we really felt like the underdogs coming into this weekend. Partly because of the numbers we had seen their boats produce earlier this season and because a lot of their girls are internationals who have been rowing for a lot longer than any of us have. With all that in mind we were still just preparing to improve our race from the weekends before and see what we could do."

The Second Varsity Four, which consists of three redshirt freshmen and one true freshman, made a nice step forward to earn the Wildcats' second first-place finish of the day, earning a time of 9:40.73 to out-distance Tulsa (10:01.01) and Central Oklahoma (10:17.08) by more than 20 and 30 seconds, respectively. The boat included redshirt freshman Lindsey Devreugd, redshirt freshman Lisa Zuiderveen, redshirt freshman Alyssa Pemberton and freshman Jayden Wert and redshirt sophomore coxswain Kylee Stec.

Redshirt freshman Lindsey Devreugd said the sole focus for the Second Varsity Four today was coming together as a complete group, so they could make improvements from last weekend's effort at the Sunshine State Invitational.

"Coming into this weekend, I was nervous but excited," said Devreugd. "We've had some changes in our lineup this week, so our big focus was coming together and working as a unit. We knew that the other schools were going to be fast, so as a boat we wanted to focus on our own race and improve from last weekend.

"We started down off the start but by the 500 we locked in and started taking seats on Tulsa and Central Oklahoma and eventually got some open water. It felt like we made a big push around the 1250 when Tulsa started closing the gap. I felt like we all decided that we wanted to win especially when we saw Tulsa creeping up on us. To me, it felt like we collectively said, 'let's go' and just went for it."

Devreugd said today's win only got the Second Varsity Four excited about what is to come in the future.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how much we'll grow and learn in between now and the next race. We're a young boat so races are always super exciting because we get to see what we are capable of."

The Second Varsity Eight, which included redshirt freshman Lauren Walker, freshman Kaylee Kleinschmit, redshirt senior Natasha Johnson, redshirt junior Megan Kelly, freshman Ashley Cass, freshman Patricia Hokanson, redshirt freshman Jessica Schenk, redshirt freshman Alyssa Buettner and redshirt freshman coxswain Kelsey Ladlie, placed second behind host Tulsa with a time of 8:11.47.

The Varsity Eight collected a time of 7:55.10 to finish in third place in the final race of the day. The boat included sophomore Elizabeth Mummert, junior Marissa Rodriguez, redshirt sophomore Maya Morrow, redshirt junior Taylor Hartman, redshirt sophomore Madison Jensen, sophomore Megan Michaelis, redshirt freshman Idallis Shaffer and redshirt freshman coxswain Lauren Plum.

"Both eights raced better and were more competitive," said Sweeney. "They attacked the race but were unable to hold their opponents over the second half."

K-State will now take a break from its competition schedule and start its preparations for the annual Dillons Sunflower Showdown matchup with Kansas on Saturday, May 1. The Wildcats have won the Sunflower Showdown in six of the last nine years, including a 22-0 victory over the Jayhawks in the last meeting in 2019.

Odgers said the team's mindset overall the next few weeks are working on ways to improve before their pivotal races in the Sunflower Showdown and Big 12 Championships to wrap up the season.

"I'm looking forward to having a couple weeks to do some fine tuning and learning within the boat," said Odgers. "Hopefully, we will get at least some good water to practice on. After that is the Sunflower Showdown, which is always an exciting and competitive race. On top of that it's really fun to have friends and family come out and watch because it is our closest race to Manhattan. Then we have Big 12s (Championships), which will just be a great final chance for us to show all the work we've put in this year and hopefully we'll get some good results!

"I'm just really proud to be a part of this team and this boat. All the work we put in throughout the year is not easy but racing and seeing good results is really encouraging and makes it all worth it!"

Saturday's Race Results (Tulsa Triangular)

2v4+
1. K-State, 9:40.73
2. Tulsa, 10:01.01
3. Central Oklahoma, 10:17.08

1v4+
1. K-State, 9:01.92
2. Central Oklahoma, 9:23.38
3. Tulsa, 9:33.34

2v8+
1. Tulsa, 7:56.24
2. K-State, 8:11.47

1v8+
1. Central Oklahoma, 7:30.91
2. Tulsa, 7:44.37
3. K-State, 7:55.10

K-State Lineups:
Second Varsity Four (9:40.73)
Cox: Kylee Stec, 4. Lindsey Devreugd, 3. Lisa Zuiderveen, 2. Alyssa Pemberton, 1. Jayden Wert.

First Varsity Four (9:01.92)
Cox: Kaitlyn Henke, 4. Logan Frost, 3. Ellie Hahn, 2. Elizabeth Sloan, 1. Kate Odgers.

Second Varsity Eight (8:11.47)
Cox: Kelsey Ladlie, 8. Lauren Walker, 7. Kaylee Kleinschmit, 6. Natasha Johnson, 5. Megan Kelly, 4. Ashley Cass, 3. Patricia Hokanson, 2. Jessica Schenk, 1. Alyssa Buettner.

First Varsity Eight (7:55.10)
Cox: Lauren Plum, 8. Elizabeth Mummert, 7. Marisa Rodriguez, 6. Maya Morrow, 5. Taylor Hartman, 4. Madison Jensen, 3. Megan Michaelis, 2. Idallis Shaffer, 1. Jadyn Greisen.

Kansas State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Alyssa Buettner

Ashley Cass

Logan Frost

Jadyn Greisen

Ellie Hahn

Taylor Hartman

Kaitlyn Henke

Patricia Hokanson

Madison Jensen

Natasha Johnson

Megan Kelly

Kaylee Kleinschmit

Kelsey Ladlie

Megan Michaelis

Maya Morrow

Elizabeth Mummert

Kate Odgers

Alyssa Pemberton

Lauren Plum

Marisa Rodriguez

Jessica Schenk

Idallis Shaffer

Elizabeth Sloan

Kylee Stec

Lauren Walker

Jayden Wert

Lisa Zuiderveen