All Five Sooner Boats Advance to Grand Finals

May 13, 2017 | Rowing

By: Micah Thompson

NORMAN – All five Oklahoma boats are heading to the Grand Finals of the Big 12 Championship after impressive performances in Saturday's prelim races. The regatta is being held on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The Sooners, who were the top seed in their heat in all five races on Saturday, won four sessions and took second in one.

Oklahoma's first varsity eight got the team off to a big start, crossing the line in 6:27.947 to top Tennessee, Kansas State and Old Dominion with a five-second margin of victory. The crew was down a full boat length to Tennessee but started walking in the middle thousand and overtook the Volunteers in the third 500 for the win.

The second varsity eight kept the momentum going with a win in 6:32.849 over Tennessee, Alabama and West Virginia. The boat was also down to Tennessee but closed in over the last 500 to secure the victory.

The OU 1V4 finished just .6 seconds behind Alabama to place second in its heat, but the Sooner second varsity four topped Alabama, Kansas and West Virginia to place first with a seven-second margin of victory.

The Oklahoma third varsity eight finished out the prelim racing session strong, finishing first with a time of 6:44.535. The boat downed Alabama, Tennessee and Old Dominion. The squad chased Alabama and overcame the Crimson Tide in the final sprint.

"We did what we needed to do to advance all boats into the Grand Finals," OU Head Coach Leeanne Crain said. "We got off the line slow in a couple races, so we're going to focus on getting out a little quicker tomorrow. Overall it was a pretty good day, but we need to be ready to go tomorrow."

The finals of the Big 12 Championship are set to begin at 8 a.m. CT on Sunday, starting with the third varsity eight and ending with the first varsity eight. Full results from the regatta are available on DeltaTiming.com.