March 16, 2013

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – The Kansas rowing team opened the Louisville Invite on Saturday by winning nine of 13 races.  All but one of the Jayhawk boats posted wins.

KU started the day by competing against perennial national powers Duke and Notre Dame.  The Jayhawks began by winning the Second Novice Eight by 32 seconds.  KU would end up winning the First Novice Eight, Second Varsity Four and Third Varsity Four.

“We raced well as a team today,” said KU head coach Rob Catloth. “We showed our depth as a team.  We’ve been trying to build our depth and that really showed today.  Now we need our lower boats to push our top boats to be faster.”

Notre Dame won each of the First and Second Varsity Eight as well as the Varsity Four races, all of which represent the races that are scored at the NCAA Championships.

“Our wins were good, but it would have been extra special to beat those teams in one of the NCAA events,” said Catloth.

KU’s strong performance continued in the afternoon session as the Jayhawks rowed against Alabama and Buffalo.  Kansas won five out of the six races in the afternoon.  The first race was the Varsity Eight, where the teams were separated by less than three seconds with Alabama winning.  KU cut its Varsity Eight time by 28 seconds compared to the morning session.

“We are just working to get stronger in that top Eight,” said Catloth.  “We showed some good speed in the afternoon, especially in the Eights.”

KU went on to win the rest of the day’s races including the Second Varsity Eight, First and Second Varsity Four, and First and Second Novice Eight.

The Louisville Invite concludes tomorrow morning when KU races against Eastern Michigan and Dayton.

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