Wildcats Rowing Battle Kansas in Sunflower Showdown

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The K-State women's rowing team will face Kansas in the annual Sunflower Showdown on Saturday (April 29) in Kansas City, Kan., at Wyandotte County Lake.

Racing will go off with 10 or 15 minutes between events beginning at 7:45 a.m. CT. K-State will not have a boat in the 3v4+ race but will compete in the other five events. The schedule of races will be:

Third Varsity 4+ (3v4+) 7:45 a.m. (No K-State boats will be racing)
First Varsity 8+ (1v8+) 8:00 a.m.
Second Varsity 8+ (2v8+) 8:10 a.m.
Third Varsity 8+ (3v8+) 8:20 a.m.
First Varsity 4+ (1v4+) 8:35 a.m.
Second Varsity 4+ (2v4+) 8:50 a.m.

"We're looking forward to the weekend. We raced KU earlier in the season, at that time we didn't have much water time and they were a bit quicker than us," head coach Patrick Sweeney said. "Since then we've managed to get more water time, we've sorted our boat lineups and we are confident we are moving a lot faster than we were at the beginning of April. It's going to be a good weekend of racing and we're ready to see what we can do."

The team has continued to find success this season, most recently competing at the Creighton Duel where the Wildcats swept all five races, with each boat winning in a dominant fashion. The 1v4+ and the 3v8+ finished 30 seconds faster than the Bluejays, and the 2v4+ won by a margin of over a minute.

The team faced Kansas earlier in the season at the Sunshine Invitational, where the 2v4+ earned a gold medal and the 3v8+ earned a bronze. At the last Sunflower Showdown, the 'Cats took first place in three races, including the 1v4+, 2v4+ and 3v8+.

Due to projected winds in the afternoon, K-State, KU and Creighton will compete together with three lanes of racing for each event.

"Everything has been building up to this part of the season. Our team has worked hard, and this is where we get to see what we're capable of," Sweeney said.

After this weekend K-State will finish out the regular season at the Big 12 Championships on Sunday, May 14, in Austin, Texas.

How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on the K-State Women's Rowing Team, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Kansas State University Athletics

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