The Blue Devils entered the final weekend of their season seeded sixth in all five events. For the two boats that advanced to grand finals, the pre-meet rankings proved to be accurate.
Duke placed seventh at the ACC Championships on Lake Hartwell Saturday morning in Clemson, S.C, amassing 36 points. The Blue Devils qualified two boats—the varsity eight and 2V8—for Saturday's grand finals during Friday's preliminary heats. Both boats placed sixth in their respective races.
The varsity eight boat—which included seniors Claire Vannelli, Caroline Williams and Tara Dalton—finished in 6:45.9, more than 12 seconds behind fifth-place Louisville. Times were slower across the board during the final from the preliminary heats— when the boats enjoyed a tailwind. The V8 had placed third in its qualifying heat with a time of 6:29.0.
Vannelli—a captain and four-year member of the varsity eight—was named a second-team All-ACC selection.
Duke's 2V8 crossed the line in 6:44.9, just behind fifth-place Clemson, adding back 11 seconds after a third-place finish in the second preliminary heat in 6:33.9.
Three Blue Devil boats also competed in petite finals Saturday morning, with all three boats taking second place behind North Carolina. Duke's 3V8 dropped nearly 12 seconds off of Friday's preliminary time and came across the finish line in 7:10.8 in the closest of the petite final races. The 2V4 turned in a time of 7:59.0 and the varsity four beat out third-place Miami by more than 30 seconds, finishing in 7:53.8.
No. 3 Virginia ran away with the conference title—the Cavaliers' sixth in a row—with 99 points, 17 points ahead of second-place No. 19 Notre Dame.
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