UCO Rowing wins big in Seattle

No. 2 University of Central Oklahoma won a pair of Varsity 8+ races in the Falcon Regatta Saturday as the Bronchos raced the best athletes in the country against host and third-ranked Seattle Pacific and defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Cal Poly Humboldt.The Bronchos also finished third in two Varsity 4+ races Saturday, with SPU taking first in both of those. Humboldt finished second in all four races.

The then No. 3 UCO rowing team kicked off the 2024 season going 3-3 in races against two Division I opponents, Creighton and Tulsa.

Each matchup featured three races: Varsity 8+, which features eight varsity rowers in each boat; Varsity 4+, which features four varsity rowers in each boat; and 2V8+, which is an abbreviated second team varsity, and this race has eight rowers per boat. All three races were 1,500 meters long.

Central held their own and then some. In the Varsity 8+ race saw Tulsa win by just under ten seconds, 7:06.6 to UCO’s 7:16.5. Central led most of the race, but Tulsa found a way to get a second win and pull ahead in the last third of the race. Creighton closely brought up third place, finishing with a time of 7:19.6. In the 2V8+, Tulsa stood out quite a bit more. Finishing with a time of 7:22.6, Tulsa let UCO and Creighton have a fight for second place over 40 seconds behind. Central would edge out the Blue Jays for the silver, winning 8:09.6 to 8:11.8. Finally in the Varsity 4+, UCO was right back in it. A close race throughout, Tulsa scraped by with the weekend sweep, crossing the finish line just seconds before the Lady Bronchos, 8:10.7 to 8:15.4. Creighton would finish last again, with a time of 8:33.0. After a very solid start to the season, UCO will look to earn another national championship in 2024.