The women’s rowing team finished third at the sixth annual ACC Championship Saturday.
Holding the event for the second-straight year at Lake Hartwell in Clemson, S.C., Virginia claimed its sixth championship in as many attempts. The host school, Clemson, had its best finish since 2001 and came in second. Miami took home fourth, and North Carolina fifth to round out the field of five.
Duke had finished runner-up to the Cavaliers for three consecutive seasons but snapped the streak with its third-place showing this year.
“It was a little disappointing,” sophomore Emma Darling said. “We finished lower than we had expected.”
The Blue Devils finished third in both the Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Eight events behind Virginia and Clemson. In the Varsity Eight, Duke edged out ACC-newcomer Miami by less than a second and also defeated rival North Carolina.
In the Varsity Four, the final scoring event, the Blue Devils finished in last place. Heavy winds plagued the field, but the Cavaliers and Tigers were able to handle the weather and once again came in first and second, respectively, cementing their final overall positions.
Virginia finished with a perfect 49 in the total tally with Clemson not too far behind at 41. The most points are awarded for good finishes in the Varsity and Second Varsity Eight events, so Duke still finished with 25 points, 6 ahead of Miami even with the Blue Devils’ last-place performance in the Varsity Four.
“We thought it would be tight with Clemson,” Darling said. “We definitely didn’t expect to lose by as much as we did.”
In the fourth and final event, the Novice Eight, Virginia proved to be vulnerable. During the previous five years’ championships the Cavaliers have won all four races in the ACCs, but this year they fell to Clemson by five seconds. With a time of 8:25.3 the Blue Devils finished over one minute behind the Tigers and once again crossed the line in last place.
Two Duke rowers, Darling and junior Tonia Boock, were named to the All ACC-Team. With two All-ACC selections, the Blue Devils matched their 2004 performance.
After rowing against Miami in one final tune-up, the Blue Devils will take the water at the NCAA Regionals May 14-15 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. With a strong showing, Duke could qualify for the 16-team NCAA Championships for the first time in program history.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.