K-State emerges victorious in rowing showdown after two years of waiting

After being canceled the previous two years due to inclement weather, the Sunflower Showdown between the K-State and KU rowing squads finally took place Saturday morning. It came down to the final race of the day, but the Wildcats walked away with the victory, winning four of the five races to claim a 17-3 win.

"We're really excited that our hard work paid off," said Weatherly Butler, junior coxswain for the first Varsity 8 boat. "We wanted to stick to our plan, and we did."

The Second Novice 8 race, which was worth one point, featured three boats, one from the Wildcats and two from the Jayhawks. However, the Jayhawks' second boat, which raced in lane three, was not considered official for scoring purposes. The race began with a floating start, the first of four races that required such a start. In the floating start, judges wait to start the race until boats are as closely aligned as possible, meaning one boat might start slightly ahead.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead in the first 1,000 meters. The Jayhawks caught a crab — a stroke that either misses the water or digs too deeply — at the halfway point, and while they were able to recover and restart, the Wildcats opened up a comfortable gap, and won the race with a time of 6:53.

"The floating starts don't affect us very much," said head coach Patrick Sweeney. "We train for it and we are used to it here."

After winning their first race, the Wildcats claimed their second victory of the day on the First Novice 8 race. The Jayhawks struggled from the beginning, and the Wildcats held an open water lead by the 750-meter mark. In the end, the Wildcats finished ahead of the Jayhawks by a solid seven boat lengths, and took a 4-0 lead in the meet.

However, the Jayhawks rebounded in the Varsity 4 race, which was worth three points. This was the only race to use a normal, starting block start. The Wildcats took a two-seat lead early on, but the Jayhawks made a move at the 1,000-meter mark to take a three-seat lead. The Jayhawks maintained their lead and won with a time of 7:39, putting the score at 4-3 in favor of the Wildcats.

"We didn't make the move we wanted to," Sweeney said. "We did well in the race, but not well enough."

In the Second Varsity 8 race, the Wildcats again pulled away from the Jayhawks early. By the halfway point, they held an open water lead. KU pulled within less than a boat length in the final 250 meters, but the Wildcats still won with open water in 6:26, thus taking a 9-3 lead heading into the final race.

With the First Varsity 8 race being worth eight points, it came down to the final race to decide the meet.

"It's always in the back of our minds that our race is worth the most points, but we tried to just stay focused," Butler said.

The crosswinds at Tuttle Creek Reservoir, which were an issue throughout the course of the meet, picked up heavily in the final race. As the race began, both boats were blown over a lane. Despite the conditions, the Wildcats once again took an early lead. By the time the Wildcats hit the 1,000-meter mark, they held an open water lead. Rowing at a 34 stroke-per-minute rating, the Wildcats ran away with the race, finishing in 6:20 to put the score at 17-3.

The team celebrated with the hoisting of the Sunflower Showdown Regatta trophy, followed by the rowers throwing their coxswains into the water.

"I like where we are at right now as a team," Sweeney said. "We are a young but mature team, and we showed that today. Now we need to get stronger during the winter break and come out strong in the spring."

The regatta marked the end of the fall portion of the season. The Wildcats will open spring competition at the Longhorn Invitational in Austin on March 18, 2011.