Sooner rowers excel at U.S. Club Nationals

NORMAN – With the fall slate quickly approaching, Oklahoma's rowing program was well-represented this summer as three Sooners competed at U.S. Club Nationals at Harsha Lake in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Earlier this month, seniors Katie Ognovich and Melissa Patten, and junior Abby Lange trained and competed for Oklahoma City High Performance Center and delivered an impressive showing.

Ognovich and Lange were a part of a four-member team that took gold in the intermediate women's quad. The quartet finished the race with a time of 6:59.70 for the win.

Ognovich and Lange teamed up once more in the intermediate women's double, finishing in fifth place with a time of 7:33.70.

Individually, Lange also won silver in the intermediate women's single division with a mark of 7:56.80.

"It was a really cool opportunity to practice and race in boats that normally were so far out of my comfort zone,” Lange said. “The whole experience was made better because I got to train and grow alongside my teammates through the summer."

Patten, who finished the women's intermediate lightweight single race with a time of 8:46.90 to take sixth, said she gained a lot from her offseason experiences.

“This summer I was given the opportunity to train and compete as a lightweight, which was an amazing learning experience,” she explained. “Being naturally light, it was great to race against girls my own size and see how I matched up against them. By the time club nationals rolled around, I had only been sculling for two months, and I'm proud to have made it all the way to the finals. I plan to continue pursuing lightweight rowing in the future and I'm excited to see how far I can go.”

With another fall schedule nearing, Ognovich said her summer was a great transition to prepare for the 2017-18 campaign.

“Rowing for the OKC High Performance team this summer was an incredible and unforgettable experience,” she said. “To go from sweeping to sculling for only five weeks to racing was an experience that would not have been possible without everyone at OKCHP. Winning the quad was a great way to end the summer of training and developing even more as an athlete, but I can't wait to see what the future holds.”