Eight ACC Rowing Teams in Action this Weekend
Five ACC teams compete in the Clemson Invitational
Eight of the nine ACC Rowing teams are in action this weekend, as competition picks up with several major regattas scheduled around the nation.
None will be bigger than this year’s Clemson Invitational which has grown into one of the nation’s most prestigious and competitive regattas. This year’s Clemson Invitational features 21 teams--including five squads from the Atlantic Coast Conference--with competition on both Friday and Saturday on Lake Hartwell.
Lake Hartwell will be the site of this year’s ACC Rowing Championships, which will be held on Sunday, May 13. Eight of the competing teams are nationally ranked in this weeks’ Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) national poll and 14 are either ranked by the CRCA or are receiving votes.
Headlining the field are No. 4 Ohio State, No. 9 Virginia, No. 12 Wisconsin, No. 13 USC, No. 15 Washington State, No. 17 Indiana, No. 18 Syracuse and No. 20 Oklahoma. Among the teams receiving votes are Clemson, Duke, UCF, Louisville, Minnesota and UCLA.
No. 9 Virginia, coached by Kevin Sauer, is coming off a head-to-head performance on March 31 at Ohio State in which the Buckeyes took five races, but all of them were relatively close decisions especially the First Varsity Eight in which Virginia lost by just .67 seconds.
No. 18 Syracuse, coached by Justin Moore, is coming off a second-place team effort at the Doc Hosea Invite on March 31 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The Orange took wins in the second varsity eight and third varsity eight finals in their first spring competition of the year.
Duke, coached by Megan Cooke Carcagno, is competing in its first regatta since March 10 when the Blue Devils took the Carolina Cup on the same course they will be rowing this weekend in Clemson. Duke scrimmaged with Virginia on March 24, but has not faced officially outside competition in a race in a month.
Louisville, coached by Derek Copeland, last competed at the Pac-12 Challenge at Redwood Shores, California on March 31-April 1, facing three ranked Pac-12 opponents in No. 2 Cal, No. 7 Stanford and No. 13 USC.
The Cardinals’ First Varsity Four boat defeated USC, then ranked 12th nationally. Louisville leads all teams in receiving votes, just out of the top 20.
Clemson, coached by Stephen Frazier Wong, is coming off some of its best rowing of the year as the Tigers placed first in both the First Varsity Four and Second Varsity Four events at the Sunshine State Invitational. Clemson’s 2V4 boat actually posted the better time, with a 7:18.90 clocking, defeating Miami and North Carolina and the rest of the seven team field at Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida. Benderson Park is the site of this year’s NCAA Championship (May 25-27).
Notre Dame to race in the Lake Natoma Invite
Notre Dame heads to Gold River, California, just outside of Sacramento to face seven other teams in the power-laden field at the Lake Natoma Invite. The Irish, coached by Martin Stone, will be facing a field that includes No. 2 Cal, No. 7 Stanford and No. 8 Brown as well as host Sacramento State, Alabama, Gonzaga and San Diego with competition scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday. The Irish, who are among teams receiving votes in this week’s Collegiate Coaches Rowing Association (CRCA) national poll this week, last rowed on March 31 at Princeton, dropping four races to the fourth-ranked Tigers, but also defeating Columbia in the first and second varsity eights and the first varsity four.
The course at Lake Natoma was the site of the NCAA Championships in 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2016. Virginia captured the NCAA title in 2010.
Boston College and Miami Head to Knecht Cup
Boston College and Miami head to the Knecht Cup, at Mercer County Park and Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey. The Knecht Cup is also one of the preeminent collegiate rowing regattas with over 70 teams.
BC, coached by Steve Fiske, and Miami, coached by David Sanderson, will face a field that includes, among others, Penn, Old Dominion, Georgetown, George Washington, George Mason, Villanova, UConn, UMass and Holy Cross.
The Eagles will be competing for the fourth consecutive weekend and are coming off a weekend when they defeated Boston University on the Charles River on Saturday and UConn and Holy Cross at Lake Quinsigamond on Sunday.
The Hurricanes competed in the Sunshine State Invitational last weekend in Sarasota, where they finished third in the First Varsity Eight and second in the Second Varsity Four.
The Mercer Lake site was the site of the NCAA Championship in 2006, 2012 and 2017.