Oklahoma Wins Second Straight Big 12 Title

Saturday, May 3

Oklahoma City, Okla.

10:00 AM

University of Oklahoma

Big 12 Championship

Oklahoma Wins Second Straight Big 12 Title

May 03, 2014 | Rowing

By: Athletics Communications

Final Standings
Place	Team	Points
1.	Oklahoma	125
2.	Kansas State	112
3.	Kansas	102
4.	Texas	91
5.	West Virginia	50

OKLAHOMA CITY – Behind victories in the first, second and third varsity eight races, the Oklahoma rowing team won its second consecutive Big 12 Championship on the Oklahoma River on Saturday.

The Sooners made it back-to-back titles by totaling 125 points, ahead of second place Kansas with 112. Kansas came in third with 102 points, followed by Texas with 91 and West Virginia with 50.

Ashley Carpenter, Kristin Clift, Marilyn Kozlowski, Heather Morris and Emmie Preskitt were each named to the All-Big 12 First Team while Laura Combs, Kim Moldenhauer and Kellie O'Reilly were named All-Big 12 Second Team following the racing.

"I'm just so proud of this team," said OU head coach Leeanne Crain. "I knew it was going to be a close battle for points and wasn't surprised that it came down to the final two events to clinch the title. I've been impressed by the speed of the other Big 12 teams throughout the regular season and we knew we had to pick up some speed coming into the championship to have a shot at winning."

After the second varsity eight won its race in a time of 7:35.24, Oklahoma sat atop the team standings just four points ahead of Kansas State in second with the first varsity eight race the final run left of the championship. The Sooner 1V8 didn't disappoint, sealing the title with a win in 7:19.48 ahead of Kansas State at 7:24.17.

"The team really came together in the last few weeks and started pulling some good times in practice," Crain continued. "We knew if we could race like we've been practicing we could pull it off. Everything just came together at the right time for us."

The day began with a third place finish by the fourth varsity eight with a time of 8:02.61 before the Sooner third varsity eight rowed to a commanding win in a time of 7:40.89, almost 13 seconds ahead of Kansas in second. The win was the second by an OU 3V8 after also placing first in 2012.

In the second varsity four, OU placed fourth with a time of 8:53.86. Another fourth place finish by the first varsity four in 8:29.89 gave the Sooners a total of 66 points and the overall edge before the final two varsity eight crews stroked to victory.

The Sooner 1V8 has finished first at the Big 12 Championship each of the last three seasons while the 2V8 has won the last two Big 12 titles.

Oklahoma will have two weeks to prepare for the Conference USA Championship on Saturday, May 17, in Oak Ridge, Tenn., in order to compete for an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship to be held May 30 – June 1.

First Varsity 8
Rower		Position
	Ashley Carpenter	C
	Heather Morris	S
	Marilyn Kozlowski	7
	Kristin Clift	6
	Emmie Preskitt	5
	Kellie O'Reilly	4
	Victoria Wallace	3
	Kim Moldenhauer	2
	Reagan Collins	1

First Varsity 4
Rower		Position
	Lindsey McClure	C
	Abbie Seremek	S
	Megan Szukala	3
	Jennifer Franklin	2
	Maegan Neihart	1

Third Varsity 8
Rower		Position
	Jade Nelson	C
	Stephanie Busse	S
	Dale Main	7
	Belle Stixrood	6
	Taylor Gillespie	5
	Markayla Adam	4
	Hallie Robertson	3
	Stephanie Tapke	2
	Taylor Spencer	1

Second Varsity 8
Rower		Position
	Nicasia D'Allesandro	C
	Laura Combs	S
	Rachel Cantrell	7
	Natalie Grimes	6
	Daisy Beals	5
	Megan Quinn	4
	Callie Kinsey	3
	Jenny O'Grady	2
	Marissa Beene	1

Second Varsity 4
Rower		Position
	Ashley Middaugh	C
	Cassie Preskitt	S
	Angela Thompson-Butler	3
	Hannah Kloppenburg	2
	Allison Kwiecinski	1

Fourth Varsity 8
Rower		Position
	Haleigh McAnally	C
	Shelby Sarantakos	S
	Anna Trammell	7
	Victoria Baker	6
	Megan Rolke	5
	Erin Yeo	4
	Jalyn Yeakley	3
	Christianna Isaacs	2
	Elizabeth Vernon	1