Kansas State University Athletics

Saturday, April 20
Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Kansas State University

at

SIRA

Rowing team 1v4+ during the SIRA Championship on April 20-21 in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Three K-State Boats Medal, One Gold, at SIRA Championships

Apr 24, 2024 | Rowing

The Wildcats earned one gold and two silvers medal last weekend in Tennessee

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – The K-State women's rowing team earned three medals competing at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championship on Saturday and Sunday (April 20-21) at Melton Hill Lake.
 
"This regatta continues to be a highlight of the season, with the team getting a significant amount of water time and the opportunity to put our race plan into action multiple times," head coach Patrick Sweeney said. "We had a good weekend, with some strong racing across multiple crews. We made some good progress as a team and we're looking forward to continuing to build from here."
 
K-State walked away from the weekend with three medals. The 1v4+ earned gold in their event, and the 'Cats earned two silver medals, with 1v8+ and the 3v8+ each placing in their respective events.
 
"Overall, this weekend, I came off feeling proud and hungry for more. We had a confidence boost this weekend and it excites me to see what we can do with this new confidence going into the final stretch of this season," freshman Regan Reker said. "Some major takeaways from this weekend are we are capable of more than we give ourselves credit for and we can keep up with teams that may get more water time than we are able to."
 
Each crew competed three times, including time trials Saturday morning, and semifinal heats on Saturday afternoon. Based on semifinals, crews were sorted into 'A' Grand Finals or 'B' Petite finals on Sunday morning. All K-State boats qualified for Sunday's 'A' finals.
 
The 1v4+ came in first overall to secure a gold medal in the Women's Open Four event. The lineup consisted of sophomore coxswain Kiersten Schmalz, junior Neva Roenne, sophomore Bianca Wollmeister, freshman Anna Guhr and junior Catie Wood.
 
"Time trials was a great opportunity for us to relax slightly in a race setting," Wood said. "Usually there's so many things going on, we start to freak out a bit. So just being able to settle at a slightly lower rate than normal and focus on connecting as a boat was really beneficial."
 
The crew won their semifinal with a time of 7:22.26. In the Grand Final, the boat came in first with a time of 7:22.26, seven seconds ahead of second place FIT.
 
"I usually can't recall much from races, but I remember during the finals race FIT had been hanging alongside us for most of the race and I think we were all trying to keep our cool about it," Wood said. "At about the 1250-meter mark I think I shouted 'I want open water, let's go!' and a few strokes later, Bianca encouraged Neva and said 'I've got your back,' That's when we really started to walk away from FIT and got to focus on our boat and make some offensive pushes."
 
The 2v4+ competed in the same event as the 1v4+. The crew qualified for Sunday's Grand Final with a time of 7:50.74. The boat consisted of freshman coxswain Leah Roane, freshman Emily Northcutt, sophomore Kyla Traub and freshmen Sienna Pargiter-Walker and Kiersten Playter. Competing in the 'A' final on Sunday, the boat placed 8th in 8:08.88.
 
The 1v8+ continued the team's medaling streak, winning a tight race in their final to claim a silver medal. At time trials, the crew raced a lineup consisting of junior coxswain Paige Fox, juniors Gracyn McClain, Jordan Girkin, Rachel Harman and Madison Koller, sophomore Grace Hall, sophomore Sylvia Cunningham, sophomore Zoey Whorton and sophomore Kay Pakkebier.  
 
"Our time trial we were down one girl to food poisoning, so our alternate Zoey Whorton stepped up and raced with us. It was a solid race, very low stakes but nice to go through the race plan together," McClain said.
 
Running a lineup of Fox, McClain, Girkin, Harman, Koller, Hall, Cunningham, junior Symone Simmons and Pakkebier, the crew finished semifinals with a time of 6:48.92, earning a spot in the 'A' final on Sunday morning. The boat ran this lineup for the remainder of the weekend.
 
"For the semifinals we wanted to work on our rhythm, and I really think we started to find good connection which made going into the finals even more exciting," McClain said. "We knew we would be competitive with the other boats but that we had to give 110% so all of us were excited to go all out and put down a good time.
 
"The boat came together really well that race, just with attitude, effort, and energy, definitely one of my favorite racing memories. Jacksonville was with us the whole time and they did not make it easy."
 
In Sunday's Grand Final, the crew finished with a time of 6:42.23, less than six-one hundredths of a second ahead of third place Jacksonville.  
 
"For the final we knew that it would be tough. We went into the race confident that we could keep our rhythm and length at a higher rate. Louisville and Jacksonville had both beaten us in stroke rate the day before so our goal for the race was to stay up at a 37+. The attitude was positive as we pushed off the dock and went through our warmup," Hall said.  "As we started the race, we had a clean and powerful start which gave us some momentum against the other boats. We were able to stay with Jacksonville and were down a few seats on Louisville.
 
"At the 750-1000m Fox called a big push just after Jacksonville made one. This is where we started pushing up on them. From there it was back and forth between our boats until the finish. We started the finish at the 500m mark and McClain started to bring the rate up. We pushed really hard and started taking seats on Jacksonville. The last 250m was a blur, but we ended up getting silver and beating Jacksonville by inches."
                                                        
The 3v8+ also earned a silver medal, with a lineup consisting of freshman coxswain Regan Ahlers, senior Lindsey DeVreugd, sophomore Ellie Erwin, freshmen Izzy Ross and Regan Reker, sophomore Ava Werner and freshmen Madelyn Navrkal, Harmony Leiker and Lorelei Harris.
 
"For time trials our goal was to focus on consistency, and we did just that, keeping the stroke at a breathable rate but still pushing on the power," Harris said. "Going into semis we felt confident with our goal of making it to the A final."
 
The 3v8+ and the 2v8+ both competed in the Women's Open Second Varsity 8+ event. The 3v8+ finished semifinals with a time of 7:05.18. The crew medaled on Sunday with a final time of 6:53.68
 
"Our goal for the finals was to just go out there and see what we could do. It was a tight race all throughout for the top three spots," Harris said. "We were able to make some solid pushes and didn't back off the power. At the last 500m mark Ahlers called our finish and that's when we started to take seats on Jacksonville. During the final 250 we made another big push fully coming ahead to second place."
 
The 2v8+ qualified for the 'A' final on Sunday after racing a semifinal time of 7:05.54. The crew came in fourth during Sunday's Grand Finals with a time of 6:58.84. The lineup consisted of sophomore coxswain Kennedy Loyd, junior Anna Ryan, sophomore Makenzie Storm, junior Emily Stark, sophomore Emma Johnson and juniors Madelyn Barrett, Jayden Brandt, Halle Fee and Grace Hendrickson.
 
"The team should be proud of the work they have done and we're looking forward to finishing the season strong," Sweeney said. "Our athletes continue to show that they can compete with some of the best. This program is built off of hard work and people who continue to show up, every day. we're going to continue pushing forward as we come up on some of our biggest races of the season."
 
K-State will take this weekend off from competing and continue preparing for the Sunflower Showdown with in-state rival Kansas, next Saturday (May 4) at Wyandotte County Lake in Kansas City, Kan.
 
"Looking forward at the last 4000 meters of the season, we're eager to see how we compete against KU and hopefully keep the Sunflower Showdown Cup, as well as be able to bring home some hardware from Big 12s. It's encouraging watching our boats compete well, knowing when one boat medals and achieves, we all do because of how we work as one team all throughout the year," Wood said.
 
"Right now, we are looking to KU, they have put down some good times this season but we have what we need to win we just have to not back down," McClain said. "These last couple weeks of season are about putting it all together and seeing what we have left to give to each other. All gas no brakes has been the motto."
 
The team has continued to make the most of the season, highlighting how the team environment has impacted their performance and experience.

"I have so much faith in this team and what we can do and I am excited to see what we can accomplish through the rest of the season and into next year," Hall said.
 
"This team is just so special, and I am so grateful to be a part of it and surrounded by it every day," Reker said. "These next few weeks are going to be hard. We have some tough competition coming up, but I am confident we are ready for it. This is what we have been working for all season long and now is the time we get to execute it."
 
"This season has been a special one. The team has grown so much in terms of rowing but also in community. We have all gotten really close and the relationships we built this season are special," McClain said. "I think everyone is looking towards our last two races with excitement about what we can do and the groundwork we have laid this season will show next year in an even stronger and faster team."
 
 
SIRA Championship
Melton Lake
Oak Ridge, Tenn.
 
Saturday Time Trials
Second Varsity 8+ (2v8+/ K-State A)/ (3v8+/ K-State B)
1. Louisville; 6:02.40, 2. Jacksonville; 6:07.38, 3. K-State A; 6:17.70, 4. K-State B; 6:18.10, 5. Louisville B; 6:20.65,
6. UD; 6:27.84, 7. Purdue; 6:37.50, 8. Jacksonville B; 6:37.88, 9. Florida B; 7:03.43, 10. William & Mary; 7:30.20,
11. WSU; 7:31.46
 
First Varsity 4+ (1v4+/ K-State A)/ (2v4+/ K-State B)
1. K-State A; 6:37.24, 2. FIT; 6:42.58, 3. Jacksonville; 6:55.08, 4. K-State B; 6:58.38, 5. Mercyhurst; 7:09.82,
6. Tampa; 7:09.88, 7. Rollins; 7:10.78, 8. Rollins B; 7:17.49
 
First Varsity 8+ (1v8+)
1. Louisville; 5:48.76, 2. Jacksonville; 5:50.78, 3. K-State; 5:59.51, 4. Mercyhurst; 6:07.38, 5. Purdue; 6:07.54,
6. Vanderbilt; 6:07.70, 7. Rollins; 6:12.85, 8. UD; 6:14.56
 
Saturday Semifinal Heats
Second Varsity 8+ (2v8+) (Semifinal 1)
1. Jacksonville; 7:00.76, 2. K-State A; 7:05.54, 3. UD; 7:18.49, 4. Purdue; 7:32.38, 5. WSU; 8:31.81,
6. William & Mary; 8:40.53
 
Second Varsity 8+ (3v8+) (Semifinal 2)
1. Louisville; 6:56.91, 2. K-State B; 7:05.18, 3. Louisville B; 7:21.46, 4. Jacksonville B; 7:39.96, 5. Florida B; 8:16.42
 
First Varsity 4+ (1v4+/ K-State A)/ (2v4+/ K-State B)
1. K-State A; 7:22.43, 2. K-State B; 7:50.74, 3. Mercyhurst; 7:50.98, 4. Rollins College B; 8:17.90
 
First Varsity 8+ (1v8+) (Semifinal 2)
1. Jacksonville; 6:43.85, 2. K-State; 6:48.92, 3. Vanderbilt; 6:58.92, 4. Rollins; 7:07.77
 
Sunday Finals
Second Varsity 8+ (2v8+/ K-State A) (3v8+/ K-State B)
1. Louisville; 6:48.09, 2. K-State B; 6:53.68, 3. Jacksonville; 6:55.91, 4. K-State A; 6:58.84, 5. Louisville B; 7:08.93,
6. UD; 7:14.13
 
First Varsity 4+ (1v4+/ K-State A)/ (2v4+/ K-State B)
1. K-State A; 7:22.26, 2. FIT; 7:29.24, 3. Tampa; 7:48.80, 4. Jacksonville; 7:56.76, 5. Mercyhurst; 8:02.46,
6. K-State B; 8:08.88
 
First Varsity 8+ (1v8+)
1. Louisville; 6:38.35, 2. K-State; 6:42.23, 3. Jacksonville; 6:42.29, 4. Mercyhurst; 6:53.22, 5. Vanderbilt; 6:57.53,
6. Purdue; 7:00.04
 
K-State lineups
2v8+ lineup:
Coxswain: Kennedy Loyd, Stroke: Anna Ryan, 7. Makenzie Storm, 6. Emily Stark, 5. Emma Johnson, 4. Madelyn Barrett, 3. Jayden Brandt, 2. Halle Fee, 1. Grace Hendrickson
 
3v8+ lineup:
Coxswain: Regan Ahlers, Stroke: Lindsey DeVreugd, 7. Ellie Erwin, 6. Izzy Ross, 5. Regan Reker, 4. Ava Werner, 3. Madelyn Navrkal, 2. Harmony Leiker, 1. Lorelei Harris
 
1v4+ lineup:
Coxswain: Kiersten Schmalz, Stroke: Neva Roenne, 3. Bianca Wollmeister, 2. Anna Guhr, 1. Catie Wood
 
2v4+ lineup:
Coxswain: Leah Roane, Stroke: Emily Northcutt, 3. Kyla Traub, 2. Sienna Pargiter-Walker, 1. Kiersten Playter
 
1v8+ lineup:
Coxswain: Paige Fox, Stroke: Gracyn McClain, 7. Jordan Girkin, 6. Rachel Harman, 5. Madison Koller, 4. Grace  Hall, 3. Sylvia Cunningham, 2. Symone Simmons, 1. Kay Pakkebier
 
 
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 X (formerly Twitter), Threads, Facebook and Instagram.
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