05/17/2009 - Duke Sports Information

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – The Duke rowing team's novice eight entry took fifth place in the Grand Final at the 2009 Aramark South/Central Regional Sprints on Sunday afternoon, while the Open Four A entry finished second in the Petite Final and the Open Four B crew won the C Final.

Duke’s novice eight entry rowed in the Grand Final and finished fifth with a time of 6:37.7. They earned a spot in the Grand Final after taking third in the A/B Semifinal with a time of 6:36.9. That group included an all-freshman squad of Kathie Sun, Kathryn Lowry, Rory Erickson-Kulas, Brianna Briede, Caroline Fox, Kathy Smithwick, Stephanie Rosser, Ali Long and Laura Guth.

Duke’s A entry in the open four also finished strong on Sunday and took second in the Petite Final with a time of 7:05.4, which was less than two seconds behind first place finisher Notre Dame (7:03.6). That crew of Laurel Sisler, Alex Japhet, Alison Sagar, All-ACC selection Lesley King and coxswain Tammy Lin finished ahead of Virginia (7:06.7), Michigan State (7:11.4), Iowa (7:17.5) and Clemson (7:23.3). That same crew improved on their 7:16.80 mark that they set in the A/B Semifinal on Saturday.

The Blue Devil B team of Janet Bartholdson, Katrina Weschler, Sara Couch, Alex MacLeish and coxswain Anne Moriarity rallied to win the second C/D Semifinal on Saturday with a time of 7:16.4 and then bested that mark on Sunday to win the C Final with a time of 7:09.53. That finish was good enough to beat five other boats, including Kansas (7:14.63), Indiana (7:17.43), Notre Dame (7:18.13), Iowa (7:20.73) and Central Florida (7:30.23).

The Aramark South/Central Regional Sprints marks the end of the 2008-09 season for the Duke rowing team. The Blue Devils will resume competition next fall.

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