The women's rowing team competed in its second race of season this weekend at the Head of the Mon regatta in Morgantown, W.Va., where it faced ACC foes Clemson and Virginia, as well as Louisville and West Virginia.
Duke entered three boats in the Varsity Eight competition, with the A squad placing third out of 15 on the 3.3 mile course in a time of 20:16.68.
The A boat--composed of coxswain Kareen Murray, Amanda Adam, Kim Bailey, Missy Buckmiller, Amber Straight, Christine Lauro, Lauren Case, Mae Joyce Gay and Krista Harryman--trailed only the Virginia A and Clemson A boats, which sprinted away from the rest of the field to finish in first and second place, respectively.
"As early in the season as this is, we placed pretty respectively," Straight said. "It was good for us to practice and to come together as a boat. Every time we row we get faster and shave seconds off our time."
The Blue Devils' A boat was followed closely by the Duke B boat. The B squad--with a crew of coxswain Sarah Shapiro, Tonia Boock, Alissa Van Arnam, Lauren Winslow, Natalie Zervas, Corbin Dunlap, Carrie Wilkerson, Leah Frank-Finney and Sara Miller--finished in 20:19.69, good for fourth place overall.
Duke's top-two squads both defeated Virginia's B boat, which had outpaced Duke's A boat in the past.
"For both of our boats to finish so close just shows that there's a lot of competition on the team," Straight said. "It shows that we have a lot of strength."
The Blue Devils also fielded a C boat in the Varsity Eight race. It defeated Louisville's and West Virginia's B boats to finish in 13th place.
In addition to the Varsity Eight races, the Novice Eight saw its first action of the season. Coxswain Katie Tobin, Melanie McGraw, Jen Leary, Meaghan Treanor, Kaylene Lewek, Katherine Boboris, Erica Helfer,
Alex Frydman and Chelsey Miller led the freshman boat to a fifth-place finish in a time of 24:13.42.
Clemson's boat dominated the notice competition, crossing the finish line in 21:20.47.
The A boat in the Varsity Eight race was also divided in half for the Varsity Four competition. The quartet of Lauro, Case, Gay, Harryman and Murray finished fourth in 22:46.14, more than 11 seconds ahead of seventh-place Adam, Bailey, Buckmiller, Straight and Shapiro.
Duke's third and fourth Varsity Four boats finished tenth and 13th, respectively. Also Saturday, the Blue Devils fielded three Varsity Two boats, which claimed second, fifth and sixth places.
The Head of the Mon served as the final tune-up for the women's rowing team before it returns to action later this month at the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta in Boston, Mass.
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