Sooners Host OU Invite This Weekend

March 08, 2013 | Rowing

By: Athletics Communications


	The Sooners host the OU Invite March 9 and 10 on the Oklahoma River

Rowing Hosts the OU Invitational
Dates & Times	Saturday, March 9: 8-11 a.m. (OU races at 10) Saturday, March 9: 2:30-5:30 p.m. (OU races at 4:20) Sunday, March 10: 9 a.m.-12:15 p.m. (OU races at 10:20)
Location	Oklahoma City \| Oklahoma River: Exchange Boathouse
Race Info	OU Invitational Headquarters \| Full Schedule
Live Updates	SoonerSports.com \| Twitter: @SoonerRowing
Webcast	SoonerSports.TV
Additional Info	Twitter \| Instagram \| Race Notes (PDF)

OU INVITATIONAL PREVIEW
The University of Oklahoma rowing team hosts the fourth-annual OU Invitational Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10 on the Oklahoma River. Racing is scheduled for 8-11 a.m. and 2:30-5:30 on Saturday and from 9 a.m.-12:15 a.m. on Sunday. Six teams will compete in the two-day event in Oklahoma City, and SoonerSports.tv will broadcast all 53 races.

The 2013 OU Invitational will be held on OU's home course at the Exchange Boathouse on the scenic Oklahoma River. The boathouse is located at 1409 Exchange Ave. in Oklahoma City, and parking will be available across the street. A map and directions to the Exchange Boathouse can be found here.

The OU Invitational schedule is divided into three sessions, two on March 9 and one on March 10. Each session is divided into three groups, with two teams in each group. Saturday morning's session begins at 8 a.m., with OU's races commencing at 10 a.m. against Tulsa. Saturday afternoon's first race is at 2:30 p.m., and the Sooners have six contests against Minnesota beginning at 4:20. The OU Invite concludes Sunday morning at 9 a.m., and Oklahoma meets Kansas in the middle group of races at 10:20 a.m. Big 12 rival Kansas State and in-state foe UCO also will compete. A full schedule is available here.

SOONERSPORTS.TV, LIVE RESULTS AND UPDATES
• Live stats can be found on the OU Invitational Headquarters page, which will have updates, live results and more throughout the weekend.
• The OU Invite will be broadcast live online on SoonerSports.tv. The free web stream will feature multiple camera angles from the Oklahoma River of all 53 races. Kevin Kues and Chelsea Bonnett will call all of OU's races.
• Behind-the-scenes updates and photos from the Oklahoma River will be available on Twitter at @SoonerRowing, and Instagram at Instagram.com/OU_Rowing.

THE SPRING AHEAD
• After having next weekend off, OU travels to Austin, Texas, for the Longhorn Invitational on March 22-24. The three-day event is the only spring race the Sooners have competed at in every season.
• March closes with a trip to California for the Pac 12 Challenge on March 30-31. After nearly a month off, the Sooners return to the water for the Clemson Invitational on April 20-21 in Clemson, S.C. The race marks the final race of the regular season.
• The Big 12 Championships await the Sooners on May 4 in Kansas City, Kan. After hosting the event last season, OU travels to Lake Wyndotte looking for their first conference championship.
• Also a member of Conference USA, OU will race at the Conference USA Championships on May 18 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The Sooners will look to build off a third-place finish at last year's event.
• The season concludes on May 31-June 2 at the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis. The championships head to Eagle Creek Park for the second time in the 17-year history of the event.

2013 FALL IN REVIEW
• Oklahoma opened the fall season at the Head of the Oklahoma on Sept. 29 and 30, where they raced 17 boats and won six medals, had nine top-five finishes and 14 top-10 finishes in just five events. OU swept the top four spots in the open pair, won the collegiate four and came in third in the women's collegiate 8 on the four-kilometer course in Oklahoma City.
• OU raced to a 23rd-place finish at the world-famous Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston on Oct. 21 with a time of 17:50.431 in a field of 40 collegiate and international crews. The Sooners competed in the Women's Championship Eight event on the Charles River, which included the USRowing United States national team, the same crew that won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics and several other international teams that raced at the London Olympics.
• Oklahoma's novice squad finished first at the Head of the Colorado on Oct. 27 on Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. The Sooners raced four boats in two events and defeated Texas in the women's novice eight race with a first and fourth-place finish and finishing second and third in the second novice eight race.
• The Sooners closed out the fall season at the Head of the Hooch on Nov. 3 and 4. The Sooners competed in four events, and nine of OU's ten boats finished in the top 13 against as many as 48 crews in each race. Oklahoma finished second in the championship eight, third in the open pair and fourth in the championship four.

CELEBRATING FIVE SEASONS OF OU ROWING
• The 2012-13 season marks the fifth year rowing has been a Division I sport at Oklahoma. Established in 2008-09, the Sooners have been led by head coach Leeanne Crain since Day One.
• OU's home is the Exchange Boathouse on the Oklahoma River, part of Oklahoma City's Boathouse District. With three boathouses and a new four-story finish line tower, the Boathouse District is one of the world's premiere sites for rowing. The Sooners share their home course on the scenic Oklahoma River with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Training Center.
• The Sooners compete in both the Big 12 Conference and Conference USA. Big 12 rivals Kansas, Kansas State, Texas and West Virginia also sponsor rowing. Since six teams are needed in a conference to earn an automatic bid in the NCAA Championships, OU will also race for a Conference USA championship against eight other schools, including Kansas, Kansas State, SMU, Tennessee, Texas, Tulsa, UCF and West Virginia.

OU's Expected Lineups

Varsity Eight A C: Carly Schueler 8: Rebecca Staff 7: Ivy Brown 6: Kellie O'Reilly 5: Nikki Furmanek 4: Kristin Clift 3: Meghan Farrell 2: Laura Combs 1: Emmie Preskitt	Varsity Eight B C: Jessica Hogan 8: Becca Winchester 7: Marilyn Kozlowski 6: Taylor Gillespie 5: Olivia Staff 4: Jenny O'Grady 3: Kelsey O'Grady 2: Heather Morris 1: Ashley LaFollette
Varsity Four A C: Ashley Carpenter 4: Megan Quinn 3: Markayla Adam 2: Kim Moldenhauer 1: Belle Stixrood	Varsity Four B C: Abigail Moyer 4: Cassie Preskitt 3: Rachel Cantrell 2: Kristen Anthis 1: Melissa Simpson
Novice Eight A C: Tori Todt 8: Marissa Beene 7: Reagan Collins 6: Hunter Schwantz 5: Allison Kwiecinksi 4: Jenny Franklin 3: Savannah Tallbear 2: Meredith Thornton 1: Samantha Legler	Novice Eight B C: Carla Johnson 8: Daisy Beals 7: McKenzie Middle 6: Megan Szukala 5: Callie Kinsey 4: Amanda Graves 3: Mariah Dunn 2: Laine Abernathy 1: Brianna Brown
Novice Four C: Abigail Moyer 4: Rachel Fischer 3: Paris Littlechild 2: Olivia Miller 1: Liliana Campon