A week after topping Miami at the ACC Championships, the women’s rowing team cruised by its conference rival in 4-of-7 head-to-head races.
The Blue Devils’ top boat, the Varsity 8, eked out a win by half a second.
The Hurricanes fell to Duke by a full second at the ACCs April 23 but cut the gap in half competing at Indian Creek in Miami Beach.
“We went down the course neck-to-neck, but luckily we pulled it out at the end,” head coach Robyn Horner said. “We were hoping the margin of victory would get wider from the ACCs, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.”
The Second Varsity 8, Varsity 4 and Novice 8 also had rematches from the ACC Championships. With Miami claming victories in the Varsity 4 and the Novice 8, none of the outcomes changed from last weekend’s finishes.
Duke’s Second Varsity 8 notched its second win over Miami on the year, this time by seven seconds.
“The Second Varsity 8 rowed a really good race,” Horner said. “They did a great job distancing themselves from Miami this time.”
The Blue Devils once again lost to Miami in the Novice 8. After catching an oar at the ACCs and finishing more than 40 seconds behind the Hurricanes, the boat regrouped and narrowed the gap to just over one second.
“I was really happy with the Novice 8 squad,” Horner said. “After a disappointing race at the ACCs, they came out and showed a huge improvement in Miami.”
In the teams’ final tune-up before the NCAA Regionals, two more Varsity 4 boats as well as a Novice 4 boat competed.
With the Varsity 8 squad split into the newly formed Varsity 4 boats, the crews found mixed results, splitting the races with their Miami counterparts.
In the Novice 4 event, the Blue Devils captured their fourth and final victory by 38 seconds in the most lopsided race of the meet.
Duke has two weeks off before it will row in the NCAA Regionals in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The Blue Devils have not qualified a boat for the NCAA Championships in their seven years as a varsity program. Horner said she thinks the Varsity 8 boat has a chance, but that it will require them to find speed in the coming weeks.
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