USC Rowing Blows By Competition at Head of the Oklahoma

Saturday, October 4

Oklahoma City, Okla.

All Day

USC

Head of the Oklahoma

The Women of Troy out-raced the competition at the Oklahoma head races.

USC Rowing Blows By Competition at Head of the Oklahoma

October 06, 2014 | Women's Rowing

Follow @USCWomensRowing on Twitter

Oct. 6, 2014

OKLAHOMA CITY - The USC women's rowing team opened the 2014-15 campaign at the Head of the Oklahoma and the OG+E (Oklahoma Gas and Electric) Night Sprints on Saturday, Oct. 4, and won all four of its races on the Oklahoma River. New to the course, the Women of Troy stood up to the test to win each of its races by sizeable margins.

"It was a very motivating experience for our team," said head coach Zenon Babraj. "The unique format of having a four-kilometer head race in the morning and then a late-night 500-meter sprint was helpful for us to see some of the strengths and weaknesses early in our training process. I am very encouraged by our performances and excited about the coming year. Although we have a young team, I am confident that it will be able to perform at a very high level."

The Trojans' varsity eight started the day strong as winner of its head race and ended up taking home the Ackerman Cup as the all-points winner for women's collegiate events. USC started from the second position and successfully navigated its way under eight bridges through the first 2000 meters of the unfamiliar course. Down the 2000 meters of the second-half straight, the Trojans overtook first-position host Oklahoma to finish with a time of 13:31.61, which was nearly 30 seconds better than the Sooners' finish at 13:59.40. Kansas State's eight had the third fastest time at 14:10.61 while Tulsa had the fourth time at 14:14.11.

USC's varsity eight was coxed by senior Kellyn Freire with freshman Dorottya Bene in the stroke seat. Senior All-American Krisztina Gyimes occupied the seventh spot and was followed by Madara Strautmane, Alexandra Varekova, Lindsay Gibson, Darian DiCianno, Kamali Houston, and Ida Gortz Jacobsen in the bow.

In the evening, the varsity eight took to the water once more for a 500-meter sprint and raced out of the top lane to finish with a time of 1:35.19. The Trojans never trailed in the sprint despite having the race stopped about 250 meters in due to a collision in the two middle lanes. Oklahoma's top boat finished with a time of 1:41.15 in second place and was followed by Rhode Island (1:43.58), Southern Methodist (1:50.13), and Eastern Michigan (1:50.87).

In the varsity four's head race, the Women of Troy started in the third position but had overtaken boats from both Tulsa and Oklahoma by the time it crossed the finish line for a first-place time of 15:29.47. The Sooner four finished at 15:34.68 in second place and was followed by the Tulsa four at 15:51.47 in third place.

The Trojan four didn't skip a beat in the night sprint as it led the seven-boat affair from start to finish. The Women of Troy crossed the finish line with a time of 1:51.71 ahead of a pair of Oklahoma boats, which finished with times of 1:59.96 and 2:03.20. Eastern Michigan (2:05.09) was fourth and was followed by Wichita State (2:09.53), Washington (2:10.05), and Texas A&M (2:10.56).

USC's varsity four was coxed by sophomore Kaelyn Ibold with freshman Alice Riley at the stroke followed by Sara Bilimoria, Katherine Gleadow, and Elizabeth Turner. The V4+ races were also Race for the Cure events in which the student-athletes donned pink shirts to help spread awareness during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The Women of Troy will be back in action at their traditional fall excursion to Sacramento, Calif., for the Head of the American on Saturday, Oct. 25. For more information on USC women's rowing and a complete schedule, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans can also follow the Women of Troy on Twitter @USCWomensRowing.

2014 HEAD OF THE OKLAHOMA and OG+E NIGHT SPRINTS

Oklahoma River | Oklahoma City, Okla.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

RESULTS and BOATINGS

WOMEN'S COLLEGIATE 8+ 4Km HEAD RACE			WOMEN'S COLLEGIATE 8+ 500m SPRINT			WOMEN'S COLLEGIATE 4+ 4Km RACE FOR THE CURE			WOMEN'S COLLEGIATE 4+ 500m SPRINT
1	13:31.61	USC	1 (1)	1:35.19	USC	1	15:29.47	USC	1 (1)	1:51.71	USC
2	13:59.40	Oklahoma	2 (2)	1:41.15	Oklahoma	2	15:34.68	Oklahoma	2 (2)	1:59.96	Oklahoma
3	14:10.61	Kansas State	3 (3)	1:43.58	Rhode Island	3	15:51.47	Tulsa	3 (3)	2:03.20	Oklahoma
4	14:14.11	Tulsa	4 (5)	1:50.13	SMU	4	16:15.65	Tulsa	4 (5)	2:05.09	Eastern Mich.
5	14:18.08	Oklahoma	5 (6)	1:50.87	Eastern Mich.	5	16:17.04	Oklahoma	5 (4)	2:09.53	Wichita State
6	14:25.62	Kansas State	6 (4)	DNF	Oklahoma	6	16:17.45	Kansas State	6 (7)	2:10.05	Washington
7	14:35.82	SMU				7	16:19.66	Central Okla.	7 (6)	2:10.56	Texas A&M
8	14:42.46	Tulsa				8	16:21.17	Kansas State
9	14:42.89	Eastern Mich.				9	16:29.48	Kansas State
10	14:52.06	Central Okla.				10	16:34.15	Kansas State
11	14:56.60	Tulsa				11	16:36.31	SMU
12	15:32.52	Kansas State				12	16:45.22	Kansas State
13	15:34.53	SMU				13	16:45.82	Tulsa
14	15:38.87	Kansas State				14	16:56.89	Wichita State
15	15:46.17	Central Okla.				15	16:59.10	Eastern Mich.
16	16:33.82	Texas A&M				16	17:11.32	Tulsa
						17	17:11.47	SMU
						18	17:15.68	Washington
						19	17:22.90	Eastern Mich.
						20	17:47.63	Texas A&M
						21	17:54.95	Tulsa
						22	17:56.03	Wichita State
						23	18:05.48	Central Okla.
						24	18:53.77	State Louis
						25	19:25.42	Nebraska
						26	20:47.78	TAMU Galv.

USC 1V8						USC 1V4
Bow	Ida Gortz Jacobsen					Bow	Elizabeth Turner
2	Kamali Houston					2	Katherine Gleadow
3	Darian DiCianno					3	Sara Bilimoria
4	Lindsay Gibson					Stk	Alice Riley
5	Alexandra Varekova					Cox	Kaelyn Ibold
6	Madara Strautmane
7	Krisztina Gyimes
Stk	Dorottya Bene
Cox	Kellyn Freire