04/19/2008 - Duke Sports Information

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Duke rowing team took third place at the ACC Championships at Lake Hartwell on Saturday, April 19, despite entering just three boats in the four races. Senior Gwen Coleman and freshman Alex Japhet helped lead Duke’s varsity eight to a third-place finish at the event and were rewarded with selections to the All-ACC team. 

The third-place finished mark Duke’s seventh straight top-three finish at the ACC Championships dating back to the second-ever conference final in 2002. Virginia racked up 59 total points to win the event for the ninth straight year, while Clemson took second place with 51 points. Duke collected 33 total points to edge North Carolina (28), Miami (22) and Boston College (12).

 

In addition to the taking third in the varsity eight, the Blue Devils also picked up a third place finish in the varsity four and a fourth-place finish in the second varsity eight.

 

The Blue Devils opened the day with the varsity four where the group of Iraina Miles, Kate Kearney, Emily Herrington, Liz Martin and coxswain Tammy Lin beat out Miami, North Carolina and Boston College to take third place in the varsity four. The quintet turned in a time of 7:43.7 in the 2,000 meter race to pick up eight points for the team. They were outpaced only by Clemson (7:25.9) and Virginia (7:18.6).

 

Duke then followed by taking fourth in the second varsity four with a time of 6:58.9, thanks to the efforts of Mary Caroline Dyke, Krys Wallis, Lesley King, Karin English, Amanda Pade, Steffi Decker, Nicole Weathers, Alex MacLeish and coxswain Meg Tobin. They hold on during the stretch to edge Boston College (7:03.1) and Miami (7:03.7) by less than four seconds. Virginia won the event with a time of 6:31.4, followed closely by Clemson (6:36.8) and North Carolina (6:55.1).

 

In the finale, Duke’s top boat, comprised of Gwen Coleman, Emily Rothfield, Alex Japhet, Sara Couch, Janet Bartholdson, Alison Sagar, Michelle Lancto, Katrina Weschler and coxswain Anne Moriarity turned in the third-fastest time of the day in the varsity eight. The group finished the race in 6:40.1 to take third behind runner-up Clemson (6:32.6) and champion Virginia (6:22.0). Miami (6:46.3), North Carolina (6:48.1) and Boston College (6:48.6) rounded out the field.

 

By finishing ahead of North Carolina in the overall standings, Duke earns a point in the Carlyle Cup competition, which is the annual all-sports contest between the two schools. North Carolina currently leads the competition 17-7.

 

Duke will now have nearly a month to train for the upcoming South/Central Regionals which take place on May 17-18 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The regional competition draws more than 20 teams and serves as the precursor to the NCAA Championships.