The women's rowing team, ranked 22nd nationally, fell to No. 12 Washington State Saturday at the Clemson Classic. Duke lost each of three races, never able to come within nine seconds of the perennially strong Cougars.
Still, the Blue Devils were very pleased with the results of the meet, as senior rower Joanna Hingle asserted.
"Our freshman eight and our varsity four were both racing against the rowers from Washington State's second varsity eight, which has been very successful this spring," she said. "Our varsity eight gained ground on [WSU's] varsity eight from the time we saw them in San Diego. The races were very difficult, but we pushed ourselves and had good, clean races."
The Blue Devils, who recently finished second in the ACC tournament, were simply unable to overcome Washington State.
"Our squads did well today," WSU Head Coach Jane LaRiviere said. "We're looking forward to more good racing tomorrow."
Her Cougars would go on to win the Clemson Classic, downing both Clemson and Tennessee en route to the title. For Duke, however, the pinnacle of the season still lies three weeks into the future.
"Our team likes to aim as high as possible," Hingle said. "In this case, winning a regional championship in the freshman eight, varsity four or varsity eight, and sending a boat to the national championships are not impossible feats. None of those goals will be easy to attain, but there is little worse than aiming too low and selling yourself short. We'll give it everything we have and see where that puts us."
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