Rowing Sweeps Boat of the Week Awards

April 25, 2013

NORMAN, Okla. -- For the second time this season, the No. 20 University of Oklahoma rowing team swept the weekly conference awards as the second varsity eight earned both the Big 12 and Conference USA Boat of the Week honors, the conferences announced. OU has now won six of the seven awards that it has been eligible for this season.

This week's awards are the fifth and sixth time this season that an OU boat has been named the Boat of the Week. The Sooners' second varsity eight has earned four accolades, while the varsity eight and varsity four have each been honored once.

“This group continues to impress me,” OU head coach Leeanne Crain said. “They are fearless when it comes to racing and have developed great chemistry within the boat. They never back down to a challenge, whether it's racing against the first varsity eight in practice or going up against the top teams in the nation. They love to compete and it shows out on the race course.”

The OU boat beat four ranked teams in three races at the Clemson Invitational April 20-21. The Sooners, who were receiving votes in the USRowing Coaches Poll at the time, beat No. 18 Louisville and No. 20 Duke twice and No. 14 Clemson and No. 13 Michigan once.

In Saturday's first race, the boat finished third in 6:44.0, ahead of Minnesota, No. 18 Louisville and UCF, while finishing just 2.5 seconds behind third-ranked and defending national champion Virginia. Oklahoma followed that race up with a time of 6:31.1 to place fourth, ahead of No. 13 Michigan, Oregon State and No. 20 Duke. In Sunday morning's race, the Sooners closed their strong weekend with a second-place finish in 7:11.8, crossing the line just 2.1 seconds behind No. 19 Cornell and ahead of No. 14 Clemson by 2.1 seconds.

The boat was comprised of coxswain Jessica Hogan, Becca Winchester, Marilyn Kozlowski, Taylor Gillespie, Jenny O'Grady, Kim Moldenhauer, Kelsey O'Grady, Heather Morris and Ashley LaFollette.

A full recap from the Clemson Invitational can be found here (April 20) and here (April 21).

With five Big 12 schools sponsoring rowing, the conference is one team shy of an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Championship. Oklahoma, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas and West Virginia also compete in the 11-team Conference USA with Alabama, Old Dominion, SMU, Tennessee, Tulsa and UCF. The winner of the C-USA Championship earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

The Sooners are back in action May 4 at the Big 12 Championships in Kansas City, Kan., as they compete for their first conference title.

For complete news and behind-the-scenes updates on the Sooners, follow them on Twitter at @SoonerRowing and Instagram at Instagram.com/OU_Rowing.

2013 Conference USA Boat of the Week Awards

March 19: Oklahoma Varsity 4
March 26: Oklahoma Second Varsity 8
April 2: Oklahoma Second Varsity 8
April 9: West Virginia Varsity 8
April 16: West Virginia Varsity 8
April 24: Oklahoma Second Varsity 8

2013 Big 12 Boat of the Week Awards

March 27: Oklahoma Varsity Eight
April 10: Texas First Novice Eight & West Virginia First Varsity 8+
April 24: Oklahoma Second Varsity 8

Players Mentioned

Taylor Gillespie

Jessica Hogan

Marilyn Kozlowski

Ashley LaFollette

Kim Moldenhauer

Heather Morris

Kelsey O'Grady

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics