The Kansas State rowing team finished first in both of their Varsity Four boats and placed in both Varsity Eight races at the Tulsa Triangular on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats dominated in each of their first-place races, winning by over 20 seconds in both.
The Wildcats Second Varsity Eight also finished strong as they took second place and finished third overall in the Varsity Eight races.
“The first four was dominant and consistent,” head coach Pat Sweeney said in a K-State Athletics press. “They’ve continued to learn from race to race. Today was a good performance and we will work to build from it
Earlier this week, the team made the decision to switch up their lineup yet showed success in their abilities to work together.
Using a new lineup, and working through a new routine, the team was able to surpass any sort of anxiety and improve the state of their confidence.
The Second Varsity Four finished with a time of 9:40.73, defeating Tulsa (10:01.01) and Central Oklahoma (10:17.08). The Second Varsity Four consisted of redshirt freshman Lindsey DeVreugd, redshirt freshman Lisa Zuiderveen, redshirt freshman Alyssa Pemberton and freshman Jayden Wert, as well as redshirt sophomore coxswain Kylee Stec.
DeVreugd wanted to make sure the Second Varsity Four boat improved from last week’s Sunshine State Invitational.
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“Coming into this weekend, I was nervous but excited,” DeVreugd said. “We’ve had some changes in our lineup this week, so our big focus was coming together and working as a unit. We knew that the other schools were going to be fast, so as a boat we wanted to focus on our own race and improve from last weekend.”
The boat’s youth has generated excitement in the team, as there is still plenty of time for the group to find even more success in the future.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how much we’ll grow and learn in between now and the next race,” DeVreugd said. “We’re a young boat so races are always super exciting because we get to see what we are capable of.”
Next up for K-State is the Sunflower Showdown matchup with Kansas on Saturday, May 1, leaving for plenty of time for the Wildcats to prepare for their in-state rivals. K-State has won the Sunflower Showdown in six of the last nine years.
