Twenty-seven years and 80 rowers separate the powerhouse Wisconsin rowing program and the fledgling Duke squad. But last Saturday, it was only 1000 meters and 30 seconds that stood between the two.
The Blue Devils kicked off the spring portion of their inaugural season at the Thomas White Regatta in Oak Ridge, Tenn., competing against traditional top teams Temple and Wisconsin as well as two of the nation's other young programs, Notre Dame and Rochester.
A seventh place finish in the varsity 8 race highlighted the Duke effort.
"We kind of knew that Wisconsin and Temple would be fast; they're both established, respected programs," senior co-captain Sonia Shjegstad said. "We hoped to be within 30 seconds of them, that was our goal, and we wanted to hold our own with Notre Dame and Rochester. We were happy with how that went."
Duke wasn't alone in wanting to stay near the Badgers, ranked No. 3 in the Central Region. Wisconsin came within one race of claiming a clean sweep, finishing second just once to Notre Dame.
But for the Blue Devils, the opportunity to have finished higher in the varsity 8 race was difficult to overlook.
Although the Tennessee sky let loose with hail and snow in time for the 7:30 a.m. start, Duke charged off of the starting line, surging in front of both Notre Dame and Rochester, something Shjegstad said the team had been working on leading up to the regatta. But the final 1000 meters proved to be the Blue Devils downfall as both the Fighting Irish and the Yellow Jackets out-sprinted Duke.
"We had been concentrating on our starts and the first 1000 meters," Shjegstad said. "And we did that well, we were out in front [of Notre Dame and Rochester]. But what we didn't execute well was the final sprint, and that's something we've been working on since then."
The event also gave Duke's novice squad a final shot at national competition before April 12th's Atlantic Coast Challenge.
"I definitely think [the novice's] are improving," Shjegstad said. "We've raced them on the water, and I've seen drastic improvements in how they've progressed and they showed that."
With its first ACC competition still on the horizon, the Duke rowers now must set their sights on a new level of competition, something that Shjegstad feels last weekend's meet has more than prepared them to do.
"We feel pretty strong right now," she said. "The complications we've had are all things that we can work on, and for a preseason race this early, we feel good about where we're at. We're ready to head into the ACC season."
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