As Duke barrels through racing season, the Blue Devils continue to show their prowess against the nation’s best, racking up resume wins for all boats in their lineup.
No. 19 Duke took on No. 15 Michigan State, No. 4 Ohio State and San Diego in a doubleheader Saturday at Griggs Reservoir on the Scioto River in Colombus, Ohio. The Blue Devils brought their A-game against the Spartans, taking first place in four of their five races in the morning. But Duke still has work to do if it wants to hang with top-10 competition, as the Buckeyes swept the Blue Devils in all five races of the afternoon.
“We came into this weekend trying to take care of business,” Duke head coach Megan Cooke Carcagno said. “We wanted to beat Michigan State—who is ranked No. 15—in all of our NCAA boats and we were able to do that. We shot out to early leads, we maintained leads and we extended our leads all the way to the finish line. I'm really proud of all of our boats.”
Although the Blue Devils’ opening boat came out to a slow start against Michigan State, Duke’s other lineups did not show any signs of struggle against nationally ranked competition.
The Blue Devils’ underclassmen-heavy 3V8 of sophomores Anna Power Jestin, Grace Garverick and Bella Miller, freshmen Savannah Herbek, Sydney Cikovic, Caroline Olsen, Sydney Aquilina and Sarah Hubner and junior Margot Calmar was the only Duke boat to fall to Michigan State. The Blue Devils came up 16 seconds short of the Spartans with a time of 7:14.87.
Duke’s 2V4 of sophomore Rani Duff, freshmen Bailey Knight and Reed Kenny, senior Alexa Campbell and junior Anna Jenkins took to the water next for the Blue Devils, and they did not disappoint. Although Michigan State kept it close, Duke surged through the end to snatch a win with a time of 7:43.6—just two seconds ahead of the Spartans. The Blue Devils’ all-freshman 1V4 found a similar tight victory with a time of 7:27.7 to Michigan State’s 7:30.39.
The remaining V8s for Duke closed out the morning with solid first-place finishes across the board. The 2V8 of sophomores Tara Fagan, Kiernan Spencer and Madison Brown, juniors Rhea Bergman and Marissa Donadio, freshman Emma Kuczura and seniors Abby Artmann, Taji Phillips and Tara Christensen capitalized on roster adjustments from last week and took first by a three-second margin with a time of 6:50.5—despite having only rowed together for one week.
The Blue Devils’ 1V8 of seniors Meagan Lew, Katherine Maitland and Sarah Fletcher, sophomores Lelia Boley and Olivia Mendonca and juniors Shannon Tierney, Isabel Ruby-Hill and freshman Caitlyn Carlisle clocked in at 6:36.5 for first to round out Duke’s domination of Michigan State.
“I'm extra proud of our second varsity eight and both of our varsity fours,” Cooke Carcagno said. “They had only been rowing a couple of days with new lineups and were able to race really well without a ton of practice, so both boats did a great job.”
Although the Blue Devils took out the Spartans with relative ease, Duke still is a ways away from breaking past the Buckeyes.
Ohio State swept the Blue Devils, winning by double-digit second margins in every race. The only Duke boats to come within 15 seconds of the Buckeyes were the 3V8 and 1V4. The Blue Devils’ all-freshman 1V4 put up a particularly impressive fight against Ohio State's all-senior boat.
“The varsity four is made up of five freshmen—the coxswain and every single seat in that boat is a freshman,” Cooke Carcagno said. “When we ended up getting to Ohio State, it was five seniors, so the youth in our program is large and strong, so it's exciting.”
The Blue Devils will have one last chance for regular-season glory before the ACC championship with the Dale England Cup next Saturday in Bloomington, Ind. There, Duke will take on No. 14 Indiana, Notre Dame and San Diego—teams the Blue Devils matched up well against in last weekend’s Clemson Invite.
“Next week is a challenge for us,” Cooke Carcagno said. “We're obviously entering reading week and exam week, so school is at its peak, but [the Dale England Cup] is a huge race for us. We're going in with the intent to win and we want our NCAA boats out in front and getting ourselves in a position to get a bid for NCAAs. There's no easy weekend, that is for sure.”
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