After finding success in California at the Hornet Invitational, the Kansas State rowing team took to the water again on the east coast at the Sunshine State Invitational in Sarasota, Florida, at Nathan Benderson Park.
Out of the five boats that raced for the Wildcats on Saturday, four of them took home medals.
“It was a really good turnout for our team,” head coach Patrick Sweeney told K-State Sports. “I was really impressed with how they raced this weekend, getting all five boats to finals and with their races in the finals. I thought it was a big step forward for our boats; we performed very well.”
On Friday, all five of the K-State boats competed in the preliminary rounds, where they had to either place in the top two for their heat or have one of the three fastest overall times to move on.
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Both the K-State 2v8+ boat and the 1v4+ boat finished in first during the preliminaries. The 2v8+ boat finished with a time of 6:39.60 and the 1v4+ boat finished with a time of 7:19.10.
In the final rounds, the Wildcat 1v8+ boat earned a fourth-place finish with a time of 6:37.82. That race was followed by three second-place finishes from the 2v8+, 3v8+ and 2v4+ boats.
The 2v8+ boat raced to a 6:43.08 finish for their silver medal, the 3v8+ boat finished with 6:59.72 to earn their second place spot and the 2v4+ boat finished with a 7:38.89 behind Alabama to earn the silver medal.
The final boat for the Wildcats, the 1v4+ boat, earned a fourth-place finish with a respectable time of 7:27.20.
“I think we still have some technical things to work out, but they should feel confident after their performance this weekend,” Sweeney told K-State Sports.
Next, the Wildcats will make a trip to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on April 19 and 20 to compete in the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships, or SIRA.
K-State will also compete at the Sunflower Showdown against the Kansas Jayhawks in Kansas City, Kansas, on May 4.
