K-State Completes Season at Big 12 Championship

AUSTIN, Texas – The Kansas State women's rowing team finished off an unprecedented season with a solid showing at the 12^th Big 12 Championship on Saturday (May 15).

K-State tallied 87 points to finish third among traditional Big 12 foes (Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia) and fifth overall among affiliate members (Alabama and Tennessee). The Wildcats were able finish 10 points higher than rival Kansas (77) with whom they lost Sunflower Showdown on May 1, while they were narrowly clipped by Oklahoma, 91-87.

"The team finished the season strong and should be pleased with themselves how they pulled a difficult season together," said head coach Pat Sweeney. "For such a young team with so many hurdles to overcome I believe they will comeback even stronger next year and with good maturity to move the program on."

Of the 28 athletes who competed at the Big 12 Championship, 23 were underclassmen, including 14 who are either redshirt or true freshmen.

No. 2 Texas swept all four races to capture its 10^th Big 12 Championship, including its sixth consecutive title dating to 2015. Affiliate members Alabama (141) and Tennessee (133) finished second and third, respectively, while Oklahoma (91) narrowly outlasted K-State for fourth place. Kansas (77) was 10 points behind in sixth place followed by West Virginia (51).

Redshirt senior Logan Frost of the First Varsity Four and redshirt junior Taylor Hartman of the First Varsity Eight were selected for All-Big 12 accolades.

The First Varsity Four and Second Varsity Eight boats both finished fourth among strong fields, while the Second Varsity Four was fifth and First Varsity Eight turned in a sixth-place finish.

The First Varsity Four, which consisted of Frost, sophomores Ellie Hahn, Elizabeth Sloan and Kate Odgers as well as sophomore coxswain Kaitlyn Henke, completed a strong 2020-21 season with an impressive time of 8:20.052 to earn a fourth-place finish. They finished less than 4 seconds behind Tennessee's third-place boat, while they were more than 5 seconds ahead of fifth-place Kansas and 12 seconds ahead of Oklahoma.

"Leading up to the race our warmup went well, and I think we were all just really ready to see what we could do," said Odgers. "We had all seen these other boats' times from their past races, but you can't always trust those because of water conditions or changing lineups. We were ready to run our race and give it our all. Having a sixth year (Frost) in our boat also gave us that extra motivation.

"Our start wasn't bad but ended up not as explosive as all the other races we've done. Throughout that first 1000 (Kaitlyn) Henke was calling that we were making pushes on Tennessee for that third place spot but it was just a constant back and forth of those pushes and at that 1500 meter mark Tennessee just made a move that we were unable to keep up with. I'm still really proud of us though. The season didn't end with a medal like we had hoped but we improved every race, and every practice which is all you can really ask for."

The boat placed first at the Creighton Duels, Tulsa Triangular and Sunflower Showdown, while they earned Big 12 co-Boat of the Week in early April after a bronze-medal performance in the Grand Finals of the Varsity Four at the Sunshine State Invitational on April 3 in Sarasota, Florida.

"This year has felt like a rollercoaster," said Odgers. "We had to come ready to be flexible with all the changing protocols regarding COVID. We all had to learn to row with a mask, row with a face shield, and adapt our bodies to this new way of practicing. We weren't able to get to know the freshman class like we have in the past because of these protocols and so the team definitely felt a lot smaller than before. I'm really proud of all of us for being flexible and leaning on each other when things got hard. Having no winter camp, spring camp, and only a limited amount of water time this spring definitely had a toll on our technique, but everybody always came to practice ready to get better and I think we all improved by this point in the season."

"I'm really excited for next year. Although we are losing some key seniors our freshmen class has been putting in a lot of work and are going to make our team really competitive next fall. I can't wait for most things to start going back to normal, COVID-wise, and getting our old practice schedule and team bonding time back."

The Second Varsity Eight, which included redshirt freshman Lauren Walker, redshirt junior Megan Kelly, redshirt senior Natasha Johnson, freshmen Ashley Cass and Patricia Hokanson, redshirt freshman Jessica Schenk and freshmen Jayden Wert and Kaylee Kleinschmit as well as redshirt freshman coxswain Kelsey Ladlie, also earned a fourth-place finish with a time of 7:30.269. The boat out-distanced crews from Oklahoma (7:31.346), West Virginia (7:34.560) and Kansas (7:36.074) and finished just behind the more experienced Texas, Tennessee and Alabama.

"At the start, in the first 15 stokes I could feel the boat start to move really fast, really quickly, but we were all relaxed at the same time," said Hokanson. "We were moving through the water instead of against it, and that's right when I knew this was going to be an awesome race. During the first half of the race, we made moves through KU. This gave us a great moment to meet and beat their 1000m push. That push was my favorite part of the race. I could feel all of us attacking the challenge and responding with grit. In the finish, we all knew it was going to be the worst pain we've ever experienced. We accepted this, fed off the energy of the boat, and finished really strong.

"I was really excited, and then a little nervous. Our boat has really improved throughout the year and I was ready to see all of our hard work mentally and physically pay off. I also wanted to do well for our Seniors in the boat, Natasha (Johnson) and Megan (Kelly). This younger crew has learned so much from them and pushing for them motivated us during the race."

Hokanson was proud of how the team finished off the year despite the obstacles and is ready to get back to work for 2021.

"This season was different for everyone, but I like to think that resilience is our top priority as a team," she said. "We're so used to doing things the hard way, so it's no surprise that we rose up to the challenging aspects this season was filled with. Even though it wasn't a "normal" season with a team that has less experience, I wouldn't trade it for anything. We have a really great and competitive first-year class. They've been working really hard. I'm excited to work with them and continue to build off of what we've made ourselves into at the end of this season."

The Second Varsity Four, which included redshirt freshmen Lindsey DeVreugd, Alyssa Buettner, Alyssa Pemberton and Lisa Zuiderveen and redshirt sophomore coxswain Kylee Stec, did not perform how they would've hoped, but one of the team's younger boats still performed well in another strong race with a fifth-place finish with a time of 8:24.141. The boat easily defeated the sixth-place crew from West Virginia by more than 14 seconds.

"We had to restart, but I think that was a good thing to happen and helped us shake out some nerves," said DeVreugd. "Looking back, I could see the improvements we made this season, but I think we still could have done more. To me it felt like we were all pushing and all wanted to win but we weren't all the way together until the last 500. Stec made the final "burn it" call and I could feel us going. Our boat was the most set it had been at that point and it felt like we were flying. We just turned that on a little too late. It was kind of bittersweet knowing that this was our last race and it's probably the fastest we've been all season.

"This whole year we've been working toward this, so it was cool to see us put all that work out on the water. I was a bit nervous too just about conditions but those turned out to be okay and pretty similar to what we row on at Tuttle. Overall, this weekend I was looking forward to the new experience.

DeVreugd said despite the challenges that the the team faced this year they are ready to learn from their experiences and get back out on the water in 2021.

"This whole year has been a lot of new opportunities and chances to get better," she said. "I think we laid it all out there at every race and we could definitely see the training we did in the winter pay off. I also felt like I learned a lot this year since it was my first time racing. I'm excited to take what I learned this year and use it throughout my time rowing. I'm ready to hit the ground running in fall; to come back and be better than this past season. I can't wait to see what we can do next year."

In yet another strong race, the First Varsity Eight opened the competition with a time of 7:22.346 to finish in sixth place, less than 5 seconds behind Kansas but more than 17 seconds ahead of West Virginia. The boat included junior Marisa Rodriguez, redshirt junior Taylor Hartman, sophomore Elizabeth Mummert, sophomore Megan Michaelis, redshirt sophomore Madison Jensen, redshirt sophomore Maya Morrow, redshirt freshman Idallis Shaffer and freshman Jadyn Greisen and redshirt freshman coxswain Lauren Plum.

"The most memorable moment for my race was in the final push of the race," said Mummert. "The last 250 I heard the girls in my boat cheering each other on between breaths. I cheered for my Stroke seat and we finished strong.
I felt excited to take on Big 12s because we had been making great progress in our boat and I wanted to see how that translated into our race.

"This entire season has been a Rollercoaster. We have had to overcome a lot of challenges in our training this year and no matter what the outcome was, I was always proud of what we did at the races."

With the conclusion of the Big 12 Championships, the 2020-2021 season is now complete.

"I am very anxious to get back to the program next year and hopefully spend some more time sharpening our skills on the water at our training camps," said Mummert. "I think that we have a lot to learn from this year and we will come out on top next year.

This year the whole team has been incredibly patient with the covid restrictions and I think we did a great job of taking advantage of the little water time we got. I am excited to see how we improve next season."

Big 12 Championship
Lake Walter E. Long [Austin, Texas]

Final Scores

Texas – 167
Alabama – 141
Tennessee – 133
Oklahoma – 91
K-State – 87
Kansas – 77
West Virginia – 51

First Varsity Eight (1v8+)

Texas – 6:43.279
Alabama – 6:56.907
Tennessee – 7:03.563
Oklahoma – 7:14.121
Kansas – 7:17.945
K-State – 7:22.346
West Virginia – 7:39.876

Second Varsity Eight (2v8+)

Texas – 6:52.303
Tennessee – 7:10.357
Alabama – 7:15.364
K-State – 7:30.269
Oklahoma – 7:31.346
West Virginia – 7:34.560
Kansas – 7:36.074

First Varsity Four (1v4+)

Texas – 7:51.683
Alabama – 8:06.949
Tennessee – 8:16.405
K-State – 8:20.052
Kansas – 8:25.400
Oklahoma – 8:32.786
West Virginia – 8:55.171

Second Varsity Four (2v4+)

Texas – 7:34.774
Alabama – 7:55.061
Tennessee – 8:03.510
Kansas – 8:18.583
K-State – 8:24.141
Oklahoma – 8:38.406

K-State Lineups:
First Varsity Eight (7:22.346/6th)
Cox: Lauren Plum, Stroke: Marisa Rodriguez, 7. Taylor Hartman, 6. Elizabeth Mummert, 5. Megan Michaelis, 4. Madison Jensen, 3. Maya Morrow, 2. Idallis Shaffer, Bow: Jadyn Greisen.

Second Varsity Eight (7:30.269/4th)
Cox: Kelsey Ladlie, Stroke: Lauren Walker, 7. Megan Kelly, 6. Natasha Johnson, 5. Ashley Cass, 4. Patricia Hokanson, 3. Jessica Schenk, 2. Jayden Wert, Bow: Kaylee Kleinschmit.

First Varsity Four (8:20.052/4th)
Cox: Kaitlyn Henke, Stroke: Logan Frost, 3. Ellie Hahn, 2. Elizabeth Sloan, Bow: Kate Odgers.

Second Varsity Four (8:24.141/5th)
Cox: Kylee Stec, Stroke: Lindsey Devreugd, 3. Alyssa Buettner, 2. Alyssa Pemberton, Bow: Lisa Zuiderveen.

Kansas State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Alyssa Buettner

Ashley Cass

Lindsey DeVreugd

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