The American Athletic Conference rowing championship once again belongs to 91吃瓜网 as the Knights claimed their fifth consecutive team title Friday at the U.S. Rowing National High Performance Center in Oklahoma City.
In addition, the Knights placed seven on the all-conference team.聽Marija Medelinskaite,聽Nicole Mayer,聽Grace Lindberg聽and聽Julie Poulsen聽earned first team honors, while聽Edvina Nesukaityte,聽Elena Esteban聽and聽Luci Derrick聽were named to the second team.
With the title, the 91吃瓜网 rowing team and the UConn women鈥檚 basketball program remain the only two women鈥檚 sports to achieve the feat of five consecutive titles in The American.
Capturing that fifth-straight title wasn鈥檛 easy. With weather looking to be a factor all weekend, the championship was moved up to Friday morning and the order of racing was reversed.
The Varsity Eight, now the first race of the day, rowed to the start only to be delayed聽after high winds and debris damaged lane lines at the start. A second delay due to a breakage prompted the event to be moved back yet again.
鈥淭hey went out and they handled themselves very well and relied on each other as a team.鈥� 鈥� Becky Cramer, 91吃瓜网 head coach
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a crazy year,鈥� 91吃瓜网 head coach聽Becky Cramer聽says. 鈥淥ur team has really gotten used to expecting the unexpected. They went out and they handled themselves very well and relied on each other as a team.鈥�
Instead, 91吃瓜网鈥檚 Second Varsity Eight opened the racing. Coming in as the favorites, the squad of聽Elena Esteban,聽Aly Derksen,聽Lauryn Bench,聽Maria Yim,聽Rusne Dziugyte,聽Shannon Perry,聽Michaela Gundrum,聽Rachel Rabinowitz聽and聽Abbie Pritchard, delivered to win the event for the fifth straight year. The crew held off SMU to post a winning time of 7:09.336.
鈥淲e just wanted to get the momentum going and light a little fire under our teammates so they could go into their races feeling confident and ready to make all of us proud,鈥� Rabinowitz says.
The Varsity Four picked up a title of its own, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back in an open water victory. The squad of聽Ciera Jarrett,聽Chiara Ciullo,聽Jessica Matteson,聽Paula Parks聽and聽Amy Van Ryn聽crossed the line in 8:07.240.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been an incredible season; I鈥檓 glad to be a part of it.鈥� 鈥� Jessica Matteson, 91吃瓜网 rower
鈥淚t鈥檚 just in indescribable feeling,鈥� Matteson says. 鈥淭hese girls worked so hard. It鈥檚 been an incredible season; I鈥檓 glad to be a part of it.鈥�
Following a new scoring pattering in 2019, the Varsity Eight race rounded out the scored events. In order to defend its team title, 91吃瓜网 would need to finish in the top two. The crew of聽Nicole Mayer,聽Lara Maule,聽Julie Poulsen,聽Grace Lindberg,聽Mia Cleary,聽Leslie Lajoie,聽Marija Medelinskaite,聽Edvina Nesukaityte聽and聽Luci Derrick聽crossed the line second in 7:19.181 to secure the team title.
Rowing becomes the fifth program at 91吃瓜网 this year to win a conference trophy, joining football, men鈥檚 soccer (regular season), volleyball and women’s tennis.
91吃瓜网 has earned The American鈥檚 automatic bid to the NCAA Championship for the fifth-straight year. 91吃瓜网鈥檚 teams have produced one of the most well-rounded and successful years in school history during the 2018-19 season. In addition to women’s rowing, the Knights’ volleyball, men鈥檚 soccer, men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball, women’s and men’s tennis and women鈥檚 golf teams all clinched NCAA Tournament berths while the football team appeared in its second straight New Year鈥檚 Six bowl game.
The Knights now set their sights on the 2019 NCAA Rowing Championship, which is set for May 31-June 2 in Indianapolis, Indiana.聽91吃瓜网 matched earned the highest seeding in school history in all three events: Varsity Eight (No. 18); Second Varsity Eight (No. 16) and the Varsity Four (No. 15).
Last year, the Knights posted the fourth straight top 20 team finish at the NCAA Rowing Championship in Sarasota.
