In their final event of the fall, the Blue Devils got great experience in competitive races to build momentum entering the winter offseason.
Duke finished sixth in the varsity four race and added top-15 finishes from its first and second varsity eight boats at the Rivanna Romp Sunday morning on the Rivanna Reservoir.
The Blue Devils managed to hold their own against a strong field featuring crews from host Virginia, Clemson, Louisville, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Old Dominion and Columbia.
"The Romp was a great race for us to end the fall season," head coach Robyn Horner said in a press release. "The races were so competitive. We'll now spend the next few months in winter training before we open the spring season in early March against Tennessee."
Duke's best moment came from its first varsity four, which consisted of coxswain Sam Bowman, Caroline Williams, Jess Findlay, Tara Dalton and Elizabeth Horne.
The Blue Devils placed sixth out of 37 boats with a time of 15:40.0. Duke's second varsity four finished 26th with a time of 16:29.2 and the third, fourth and fifth crews placed 32nd, 37th and 35th, respectively.
The Blue Devils' best varsity eight boat finished strong, navigating the final 2,000 meters of the 4,000-meter course more than 10 seconds faster than it did the first 2,000 en route to a 10th-place finish.
The crew consisting of Bowman, Williams, Findlay, Dalton, Horne, Claire Vannelli, Katie Dukovich, Rachel Wolsfelt and Hannah Hewitt finished with a time of 14:15.4.
Duke's second varsity eight was not far behind, finishing in 15th with a time of 14:31.7 and Duke's third varsity eight crew placed 23rd, finishing in 15:48.0.
After getting more experience and building team chemistry, the Blue Devils have some positives to build on and some areas to improve on before they get back on the water in March.
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