DURHAM, N.C. – After competing in four regattas during the regular season, the No. 17 Duke rowing team heads to Clemson, S.C., for the ACC Championship from May 14-15 on Lake Hartwell.
Each of the eight ACC rowing programs will look to win gold two years removed from the last time the conference championship was held, as the 2020 ACC regatta was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Both Friday and Saturday's races will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra, with coverage beginning at 8 a.m. ET each day. A one-hour championship recap show will air on ACC Network on Sunday, May 23 at 7 p.m.
- Live results will be available after each race at www.herenow.com/results.
- Due to continued health and safety protocols, fans will not be permitted at the ACC Championship.
RACING SCHEDULE
- Friday's slate of racing begins with two heats of the Third Varsity Eight crews. Duke's 3V8 earned the No. 2 seed heading into the regatta, and will take part in the second heat at 8:15 a.m.
- The Blue Devils' Varsity Eight boat, seeded No. 3 behind Virginia and Syracuse, will line up next in the second heat of the V8 prelims at 8:40 a.m.
- Duke will appear in the first heat of the Second Varsity Eight at 8:55 a.m., entering competition as the No. 4 seed.
- Also seeded fourth is Duke's Varsity Four boat, which will race in the first V4 heat at 9:20 a.m.
- The Blue Devils' Second Varsity Four crew will wrap up Friday's competition in the second heat at 9:55 a.m.
- On Saturday, the Petite Final will be held prior to the Grand Final of each event, with the 3V8 kicking off the morning at 8:05 a.m. and the V8 closing out the weekend at 9:55 a.m.
- An awards ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.
DUKE AMONG THREE RANKED ACC TEAMS
- The 17th-ranked Blue Devils are joined by No. 3 Virginia and No. 11 Syracuse in the latest Pocock/ Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) national poll.
- The Cavaliers once again enter the ACC Championship as one of the nation's most formidable teams, as they have netted 37 total wins this season.
- Duke traveled to the Virginia Invite in Charlottesville, Va., for a two-day regatta in late March, and took on the Cavaliers in Windy conditions on the opening Friday night.
- The Blue Devils' 2V8 boat outpaced Virginia with a 2-kilometer time of 6:48.5, nearly 10 seconds faster than UVA's 6:58.2 mark.
- Virginia and Duke were also at the Big Ten/ACC Double Dual in Columbus, Ohio on April 3, but did not face one another in any races.
- Syracuse has climbed up the rankings consistently this season, earning a spot in the top 10 in back-to-back weeks for the first time in program history at the end of April.
- The Orange have posted several notable results during the 2021 campaign, headlined by the Varsity Four boat defeating three ranked opponents (No. 11 Rutgers, No. 12 Indiana, No. 18 Washington State) at the Big Ten Invitational on April 18.
LOOKING TO BUILD ON 2019 SUCCESS
- The last time the ACC Championship was held was May of 2019, which proved to be among the most successful weekends in Duke rowing history.
- The Blue Devils' results were headlined by the Varsity Four boat, which won the first ACC gold medal in program history with a time of 7:22.300, nearly five seconds faster than runner-up Syracuse (7:27.231).
- Stroking the V4 was Amelia Shunk, who was named the ACC Freshman of the Year. Shunk, now a junior and one of four team captains, became Duke's first ACC Freshman of the Year since Katie Dukovich in 2013.
- The remaining four boats each claimed silver in their respective Grand Finals, giving Duke a second-place total of 90 points.
- Megan Cooke Carcagno garnered ACC Coach of the Year honors for the second time in four years at Duke, after first earning the award in 2016.
- Seniors Isabel Ruby-Hill and Sophie Simister were both tapped to the All-ACC First Team, while junior Tara Fagan – who enters the 2021 championship as a veteran coxswain for Duke – picked up Second Team status.
- Three days after the regatta, Duke earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships for the second time in program history (2016).
BLUE DEVILS TAKE SECOND ANNUAL LAKE WHEELER INVITATIONAL
- Duke recorded the top time in the Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Four and Third Varsity Eight finals on Saturday, April 24 to win the Lake Wheeler Invitational in Raleigh, N.C.
- The Blue Devils, along with co-host North Carolina, welcomed Clemson, Boston College, Miami, Central Florida, the Wisconsin Lightweights and Stetson for the second installment of the event, which made its debut during the 2019 season.
- Clemson came out on top in a pair of tight races, besting Duke by 0.286 seconds in the Second Varsity Eight and 0.464 seconds in the Varsity Four, to put itself in strong position heading into the final race of the weekend, the Varsity Eight.
- The Blue Devils' V8 boat came through with a winning time of 6:42.649 to give Duke 83 team points, just one ahead of Clemson's 82.
- It marked Duke's second team win of the season, as the Blue Devils claimed the Carolina Cup on March 6.
DUKE IN THE RANKINGS
- Duke is currently ranked No. 17 in the Pocock/CRCA poll.
- The Blue Devils have held a spot in the top 20 in each of the last 19 released polls, dating back to April of 2019.
- Duke entered the 2019 ACC Championship as the No. 17 team in the nation, before claiming a team silver medal and earning the program's second bid to the NCAA Championships.
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