The six-month-old question got a one-day answer.
The women's rowing team placed second in the Atlantic Coast Challenge Saturday, answering the season-long question of just how competitive the Blue Devils' first-year squad could be in the ACC.
"I was pretty psyched about [our performance]," junior Eli Hayes said. "We were close to Clemson, which is where we wanted to be. We've picked up something at every race this year, and we roll on. That's what we did here."
The Tigers paced the field, claiming four first-place finishes and 128 points. Duke finished second with 74. Virginia, expected to be the Central Region's top team when polls are released April 14th, did not compete, and No. 17 North Carolina was unable to send its full complement of rowers due to a scheduling change.
"Virginia obviously is in a class of their own," Hayes said. "Clemson was faster than us this year, but we'll get another chance at them. They're not out of our reach. Unfortunately we didn't really get to race UNC, but we'll see them [April 24th]."
For the Blue Devils, the regatta was another step up in performance for the varsity eight boat. After the Thomas White Regatta in March, the focus of the team became the sprint.
A full week of practice paid off.
"The varsity eight raced with more intensity and raced more aggressive than we have all year," Hayes said. "We worked so much on our sprint. We treat the final 500 meters like starting a new race.... We had a lot of things come together for us."
One of the biggest factors in the improvement of the varsity eight may be freshman coxswain Caitie Cataldo. After joining the team in the fall, unsure of her ability to compete at the varsity level and her place on the team, the former rower has become the coxswain of the team's top boat.
"She's been absolutely amazing," Hayes said. "She's learned so much so quickly. It's so cool that she's so good as a freshman."
Indeed, the future was the second theme of the regatta. With the only two full-strength varsity teams both in their first year, and with second-year program North Carolina already successful, it was hard not to glance down the road to when the ACC will become an established rowing conference in the nation.
"The ACC has come a long way, but we've got a long way to go," Hayes said. "In two to five years we'll be really competitive. There's been a lot of looking ahead."
For the Blue Devils, the future looks promising. The little-used varsity fours posted the highest finish of the day, with the Cataldo-led varsity four of Sonia Shjegstad, Hayes, Megan Rising and Katherine Peterson claiming a second-place finish.
And as for Duke's long-term future, the novices, in just their second race, knocked off North Carolina's novice eight boat.
"The [novices] learned that they were really competitive," Hayes said. "One of them got off the water and said it was the happiest moment of her life because they rowed so well."
Duke won the overall team title, adding the women's performance with the men's club team. The accomplishment made the regatta at Clemson, otherwise little more than a tune-up for NCAAs, something to remember.
"It was great, because it's the only time we get to race together this year," Hayes said. "It says a lot for Duke.... Otherwise our only focus here is fine-tuning, looking at what we need to do to get better. Everything else [other than NCAAs] is another chance to see who else is out there."
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