#5 Tennessee Wins Lake Wheeler Invitational Cup
RALEIGH, N.C. – The fifth-ranked Tennessee rowing team swept its five races during Saturday’s third round of the Lake Wheeler Invitational to earn the Pocock Lake Wheeler Invitational Cup in dominant fashion.
On the weekend, Tennessee won each of the 15 races in which it had a boat competing in. That earned the Lady Vols all 99 of the event’s available points. No. 16 Duke finished second with 84 points and UCF posted 75 points, good for third place. No. 10 Syracuse placed fourth with 65 points, while 11th-ranked Pennsylvania tallied 62 points to finish fifth over the two days of rowing.
“I’m proud of our full team’s outstanding performances this weekend,” head coach Kim Cupini said. “It was great to see all of our boats in the different categories go undefeated on the weekend. We will keep pushing hard in training and working together as we gear up for the conference championships in the coming weeks.”
Tennessee’s first varsity eight crew—Sasha Radovanovic (coxswain), Meg Flanagan, Hannah Smith, Sarah Abrams, Alex Pidgeon, Riley Ferdelman, Alice Fahey, Hannah Richardson and Emma Seawright—posted a convincing race victory Saturday by crossing the line in 6:26.432. That time was the fastest of any boat in the field during round three and the second-fastest time overall on the weekend. In addition, that mark was 13.826 seconds faster than 18th-ranked Washington State and 16.316 seconds ahead of Big 12 foe Alabama.
The Lady Vols’ 2V8+ boat Saturday featured Elizabeth Walley (coxswain), Sophie Hill, Megan Hewison, Stella Mirkovic, Paige Reymann, Nicole Campbell, Gracie Condon, Katie Rice and Erin Gifford. That crew put down the fourth-fastest time (6:29.500) of any crew all weekend, behind only three 1V8+ crews, two of which were also Lady Vol boats.
UT outpaced the field in remarkable fashion in that race. Miami (6:47.182) crossed the line 17.682 seconds after Tennessee, with Alabama (6:51.234) placing third, a distant 21.734 seconds behind the Lady Vols. Washington State clocked a time of 6:59.748, which was 30.248 seconds behind Tennessee.
In the first varsity four boat—Laila Irigoyen (coxswain), Maylie Valiquette, Allison Lea, Sheya Lavin and Natalia Loram—Tennessee’s final time of 7:10.435 bested second-place Alabama (7:26.457) by 16.022 seconds. Sixth-place Washington State (7:42.329) was 31.894 seconds back of Tennessee. UT’s winning time served as the fastest time of any fours crew all weekend.
Tennessee’s 2V4+ crew—Audrey Bast (coxswain), Abby Fowler, Beatrice Bernard, Channing Taner and Logan Yates—earned a victory with a final time of 7:25.092. That mark was 8.476 seconds faster than second-place Iowa and 16.154 seconds better than Alabama, who finished third.
Saturday also saw Mykayla Fluster cox the Lady Vols’ third varsity eight crew—Lili Binetti, Paris Thornburg, Kiana Worobey, Casey Chronister, Maiya Birdling, Tiara Dye, Evelyn Hedrick and Alyssa Biernat—to a winning time of 6:58.380, besting Alabama (7:03.996) by 5.616 seconds and fourth-place Miami by 23.044 seconds.
Pocock Cup – Lake Wheeler Invitational
Final points standings
1. Tennessee – 99
2. Duke – 84
3. UCF – 75
4. Syracuse – 65
5. Penn – 62
6. Alabama – 56
7. Iowa – 32
8. Miami – 28
9. Washington State – 26
10. Louisville – 17
11. Tulsa – 13
12. Clemson – 10
13. Navy – 7
14. Kansas – 5
15. Boston University – 2
16. Georgetown – 2
17. North Carolina – 1
18. Boston College – 1
Up next, Tennessee returns to Sarasota, Florida, for the second time in three events to race at the Big 12 Championships on Sunday, May 19.
Race Results
1V8+:
1. #5 Tennessee (6:26.432)
2. #18 Washington State (6:40.258)
3. Miami (6:42.570)
4. Alabama (6:42.748)
5. Iowa (6:47.256)
6. Boston (6:47.478)
2V8+:
1. #5 Tennessee (6:29.500)
2. Miami (6:47.182)
3. Alabama (6:51.234)
4. Iowa (6:51.846)
5. Boston (6:56.998)
6. #18 Washington State (6:59.748)
1V4+:
1. #5 Tennessee (7:10.435)
2. Alabama (7:26.457)
3. Boston (7:30.189)
4. Miami (7:32.425)
5. Iowa (7:32.903)
6. #18 Washington State (7:42.329)
2V4+:
1. #5 Tennessee (7:25.092)
2. Iowa (7:33.568)
3. Alabama (7:41.246)
4. Miami (7:49.892)
5. #18 Washington State (7:55.942)
3V8+:
1. #5 Tennessee (6:58.380)
2. Alabama (7:03.996)
3. Iowa (7:13.840)
4. Miami (7:21.424)
Lineups
1V8+: Sasha Radovanovic (coxswain), Meg Flanagan, Hannah Smith, Sarah Abrams, Alex Pidgeon, Riley Ferdelman, Alice Fahey, Hannah Richardson, Emma Seawright
2V8+: Elizabeth Walley (coxswain), Sophie Hill, Megan Hewison, Stella Mirkovic, Paige Reymann, Nicole Campbell, Gracie Condon, Katie Rice, Erin Gifford
1V4+: Laila Irigoyen (coxswain), Maylie Valiquette, Allison Lea, Sheya Lavin, Natalia Loram
2V4+: Audrey Bast (coxswain), Abby Fowler, Beatrice Bernard, Channing Taner, Logan Yates
3V8+: Mykayla Fluster (coxswain), Lili Binetti, Paris Thornburg, Kiana Worobey, Casey Chronister, Maiya Birdling, Tiara Dye, Evelyn Hedrick, Alyssa Biernat
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