RALEIGH, N.C. — The Clemson women’s rowing team had a strong day of racing at the inaugural Lake Wheeler Invitational co-hosted by Duke and UNC. After Friday racing was cancelled due to storms in the area, the regatta moved to a heats to finals format. Clemson ultimately finished in sixth place out of nine teams in the final standings.
During the first racing session, the first varsity eight, coxed by freshman Kate Hadley, put pressure on Duke throughout the race, but ultimately finished in second place with a time of 6:45.33, just 3 seconds back from first place Duke. The second varsity eight and third varsity eight both finished second in their heats, while the first varsity four and second varsity four went on to finish third.
After a short break between racing sessions, finals began with the first varsity eight racing against UCF and Georgetown for fourth through sixth place overall. Hadley pushed her crew throughout the race and after a strong sprint, the eight came out with the win in the final and a fourth place overall finish with a time of 6:34.752.
The second varsity eight stayed true to their boat name, the ALL IN, and never faltered during their race. Coxed by Erin Murphy, the eight crossed the finish line in first with a time of 6:38.844 ahead of Temple and Navy for fourth place overall.
The closest finish of the day for Clemson was in third varsity eight coxed by Rebekah Stein. Stein’s crew and UCF were trading first and second places in a bow ball to bow ball race. Ultimately, Clemson came in second with a time of 7:05.345 just 1.2 seconds behind first place UCF.
Both the first and second varsity fours took first place in their respective finals. After finishing third in the heat, the first varsity four, coxed by Katie Herbolsheimer, came out firing in the third final. They finished the race with open water on both Miami and Georgetown with a time of 7:29.790. The second varsity four, coxed by Julia Suplick, crossed the finish line in 7:32.790 with open water on Miami and UNC.
The Tigers return to Lake Hartwell on May 6th for a scrimmage against Jacksonville. Lake Hartwell will once again play host to the ACC Championships on May 17-18th. The championship will return to a two day racing format with heats on Friday and finals Saturday morning. More information and schedule to follow in the coming weeks.