The Duke rowing team matched its best result ever at the ACC Championships in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, finishing in second place behind four-time champion Virginia.
The 12th-ranked Cavaliers - who have captured the conference title every year since the inaugural race in 1999 - collected 40 points, while No. 21 Duke finished with 29 points, followed by Clemson (21) and North Carolina (10).
"We were really pleased with the results," senior Joanna Hingle said. "Every year we're coming closer to Virginia."
The Blue Devils boats were able to outrace the Tigers and Tar Heels in three out of four events, but Virginia was victorious in the finals of each race.
In the day's premier event - the Varsity Eight finals - the 22nd-ranked Duke boat grabbed an early lead on the 2,000m course but was eventually overtaken by the Cavaliers' 10th-ranked squad. Virginia finished in a time of 6:47.9, nearly eight seconds ahead of Duke.
The Blue Devil's Varsity Eight crew was comprised of coxswain Jessi Batzell, Hingle, Amelia Booth, Katie Lakin, Natalie Zervas, Mae Joyce Gay, Abby Hawkins, Kim Bailey and Melissa Buckmiller.
"Everyone had great races," Hingle said. "We always shoot for the top, but Virginia is just a very strong, very well established team."
In the Second Varsity Eight competition, the Cavaliers outpaced Duke 6:52.9 to 7:08.1. The Blue Devil boat beat Clemson for the first time in school history and posted its best finish ever at the ACC Championships.
Also claiming second place was Duke's Varsity Four, ranked No. 2 in the South region. The Blue Devils finished in 7:57.5, over 13 seconds off the winning pace.
"We hung close for the first 500 meters, but then they pulled away," junior Devon MacWilliam said. "We knew to expect an incredible race from them."
Despite Virginia's dominating performance, Duke's Varsity Four was pleased with its results.
The Blue Devil rowers - coxswain Sarah Shapiro, MacWilliam, Elise Richards, Julia Gelfand and Crystal Wakulich - had been training together for less than one week.
"We had a fantastic race, especially considering that we had only been together as a boat since last Tuesday," MacWilliam said. "We had a fantastic sprint at the end, and we couldn't have asked for a better race."
The only Duke boat not to claim second place was the Novice Eight, which finished third behind both Virginia and Clemson. Duke's freshman boat defeated North Carolina 7:11.7 to 7:20.4.
For the second year in a row, Hingle earned a spot on the nine-member All-ACC team. The Alexandria, Va., native was joined by fellow senior Booth, who received All-ACC accolades for the first time.
"It's a great honor because there are a lot of very fast rowers in the ACC," Hingle said. "Even though it's a personal recognition for me and Amanda, it says something about the team and the program as well."
The Blue Devils, who are aiming to qualify for the 16-team NCAA Championships at the end of May, return to action next weekend in Clemson, S.C. to face Washington State.
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