For the third consecutive year, the No. 20 women's rowing team came in second at the ACC Championships. Sixth-ranked Virginia won its fifth-straight conference title with 40 points, while the Blue Devils (25 points) defeated Clemson (23) and North Carolina (11).
"We all feel like we had one of the best races of the season," senior Courtney Triffletti said. "It was a championship race, and we were all hungry for it."
The Cavaliers, who have only lost one race in the five years of the championship, claimed first place in all four events Saturday at Lake Hartwell in Clemson, S.C.
"[Virginia] has a long history as a team, and they've been a varsity program for a while," Triffletti said. "We always wanted to try to get UVa, but they're very fast.
Duke picked up four points in the first race of the day with a third-place finish in the varsity four competition. The crew of coxswain Kareen Murray, Triffletti, Missy Buckmiller, Sarah Miller and Leah Frank-Finney obliterated North Carolina (8:24.7) on the 2000-meter course with a time of 8:06.1, but finished well behind Virginia's 7:45.1 and Clemson's 7:50.8.
No Blue Devils raced in the day's second event, the novice eight, which was dominated by the Cavaliers. Duke used several freshmen in its varsity eight boats, so it did not enter a boat of just first-year rowers.
The most points of the day were won in the second and first varsity eight races. The second varsity eight was led by coxswain Sarah Shapiro, Tonia Boock, Krista Harryman, Lauren Case, Caroline Wray, Carrie Wilkerson, Julia Gelfand, Julie Stuart and Lauren Winslow.
The nine-women crew picked up nine points by finishing in second place with a time of 6:56.7, less than 10 seconds behind Virginia; Clemson was third in 6:58.6, while North Carolina finished fourth in 7:17.1.
"The second varsity eight walked right through Clemson and shortened the gap with UVa during the sprint," Triffletti said. "They had a great race."
The Blue Devils wrapped up the competition with 12 points in another second-place showing in the varsity eight competition, with coxswain Jessi Batzell, Amanda Adam, Amber Straight, Natalie Zervas, Mae Joyce Gay, Emma Darling, Corbin Dunlap, Alissa Van Arnam and Christine Lauro.
Two Duke rowers-seniors Adam and Joyce Gay-were selected to the nine-member All-ACC team.
The Blue Devils have a month off from competition before the Regionals May 15 in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
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