The Virginia women's rowing team triumphed over Duke in all seven of its races in a regatta at Rivatta Reservoir. Still, the Blue Devils felt it was a moral victory.
"I thought we raced very well," freshman Melissa Buckmiller said. "It felt good to be the underdog."
Virginia's first varsity eight finished with a time of 7:22.46 to defeat Duke (7:30.24) and the Cavaliers' first varsity four had a time of 8:25.74 to beat the Blue Devils (8:42.71). UVa's second varsity four finished with a time of 8:51.2 to defeat Duke (9:42.1).
The Blue Devils' times have shown improvement from year to year. Two seasons ago, Virginia boats would win by as much as a minute.
"We definitely closed the margins a lot this weekend," Buckmiller said.
The Cavaliers' first novice eight had a time of 7:56.49 to beat UVa's second novice eight (8:06.03) and Duke's novice eight (8:18.62), and UVa's first novice four had a time of 9:32.82 to beat Virginia's second novice four (9:35.01) and Duke's novice four (9:48.44).
In the final race of the day, each school's first varsity eight divided into two fours and the four boats competed in a shorter race. From the catch, defined as when the oar first enters the water, it was the closest race of the day, as a Virginia boat with a time of 3:48.16 defeated a Duke boat (3:49.16).
The Duke boat, which included Amelia Booth, Katie Lakin, Joanna Hingle and Caroline Diemar, was ahead most of the race, which was marked by UVa rowers screaming phrases such as, "They shouldn't be up on us," and "This shouldn't be happening."
"I was surprised by [that] boat," Buckmiller said. "[The race] was amazing."
This race contrasted last week's in Gainesville, Georgia, where the Blue Devils cruised to victory in all five races against Louisville and Ithaca.
The Blue Devils next compete against Michigan and Ohio State at Ann Arbor, Mich., March 30. Then, April 6, Duke will go to the San Diego Crew Classic in San Diego, Calif.
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