"The varsity eight came into the regatta ranked 17th out of the 21 teams here and to finish four spots higher than predicted is a sign of an excellent effort overall," said Wildcat head coach Jenny Hale.

In the first varsity four division the Wildcats finished second in the petite final in a tight race with Indiana which finished 1.1 seconds ahead of K-State. Kansas State's time of 7:36.4 was 18.4 seconds faster than any other time it had clocked this season.

The final Wildcat entry, the second varsity four, made up of four freshmen and a sophomore, lost an exciting 2,000 meter dual with Clemson in the petite final that came down to the wire. The Tiger boat, which didn't row at the Kansas State triangular, edged the Wildcats by only two-tenths of a second. Kansas State finishes with a personal record of 7:37.4, behind Clemson's 7:37.2.

"That was really an amazing race for that young group," Hale said. "They have only been together about six times in that boat and they really just had a neck and neck race from the beginning and all the way down the course. I don't think there was ever more than two or three seats of a lead either way. It really came down to who was in the water on the last drive across the finish line."

Kansas State's second varsity eight finished fifth in the petite final just ahead of the higher seeded Clemson boat they lost to at a home regatta on March 29. The second varsity eight clocked its fastest time of the season finishing in 6:57.1.

All four of the Wildcat entries posted season-best performances on Sunday and all, but the young second varsity four, finished higher than their initial seeds coming into the competition.

"I think we had a really nice day here today, overall," Hale said.

The Wildcats will wait to see if they receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, Ind. on May 30-June 1. Following the NCAA event the Wildcats are scheduled to compete in the Women's Royal Henley Regatta, June 21-22 to finish the season.

c-denotes Central Region team

s-denotes South Region team

*Ohio State wins Central Region title.

*Virginia wins South Region title.

(regional placing in parenthesis)

Grand Final: 1. (1) Virginia, 6:18.7; 2. (1) Ohio State, 6:19.2; 3. (2) Michigan, 6:20.7; 4. (2) Texas, 6:23.1; 5. (3) Tennessee, 6:24.4; 6. (3) Michigan State, 6:28.2

Petite Final: 1. (4) Iowa, 6:27.2; 2. (5) Notre Dame, 6:30.9; 3. (4) Duke, 6:31.4; 4. (6) Minnesota, 6:32.5; 5. (5) Clemson, 6:40.4; 6. (6) Miami (Fla.), 6:46.7.

C Final: 1. (7) Kansas State (Cox: Brandy Sherwood; 8: Talara Wait; 7: Lori Holcomb; 6: Lara Schrock; 5: Susie Truax; 4: Alyssa Adams; 3: Courtney Franssen; 2: Carissa Land; Bow: Katy Bockelman), 6:41.9; 2. (8) Cincinnati, 6:43.7; 3. (7) Louisville, 6:45.4; 4. (8) SMU, 6:46.0; 5. (9) North Carolina, 6:46.8; 6. (9) Eastern Michigan, 6:51.0.

D Final: 1. (10) Kansas, 6:40.5; 2. (11) Indiana, 6:41.5; 3. (12) Tulsa, 6:56.8.

Grand Final: 1. (1) Michigan State, 6:31.6; 2. (2) Michigan, 6:33.2; 3. (3) Iowa, 6:34.9; 4. (1) Virginia, 6:35.3; 5. (4) Ohio State, 6:35.5; 6. (5) Notre Dame, 6:42.5.

Petite Final: 1. (2) Tennessee, 6:38.3; 2. (3) Texas, 6:42.5; 3. (6) Minnesota, 6:46.9; 4. (7) Kansas, 6:47.7; 5. (8) Kansas State (Cox: Elane Walker; 8: Amiee Finkbeiner; 7: Amy Herrmann; 6: Linzi Hauldren; 5: Angela Murray; 4: Sarah Meitl; 3: Jessica Carmer; 2: Jamie Holt; Bow: Megan Hauver), 6:57.1; 6. (4) Clemson, 6:58.8.

C Final: 1. (9) Cincinnati, 6:56.8; 2. (10) Eastern Michigan, 7:02.6.

Grand Final: 1. (1) Ohio State, 7:08.6; 2. (2) Michigan, 7:09.0; 3. (3) Iowa, 7:11.8; 4. (4) Minnesota, 7:15.8; 5. (1) Clemson, 7:21.6; 6. (5) Michigan State, 7:22.4.

Petite Final: 1. (2) Virginia, 7:22.0; 2. (3) Tennessee, 7:26.5; 3. (6) Notre Dame, 7:29.6; 4. (4) Texas, 7:30.5; 5. (5) Duke, 7:31.9; 6. (6) Miami (Fla.), 7:35.2.

C Final: 1. (7) Indiana, 7:35.3; 2. (8) Kansas State (Cox: Stephanie Riegle; 4: Hannah Langenwalter; 3: Katie Baxter; 2: Renee Ecklund; Bow: Emily Cummings), 7:36.4; 3. (9) Cincinnati, 7:45.4; 4. (10) Eastern Michigan, 7:45.6; 5. (11) Tulsa, 7:51.7.

Grand Final: 1. (1) Notre Dame, 7:20.4

2. (2) Ohio State, 7:24.1; 3. (3) Iowa, 7:26.2; 4. (4) Michigan, 7:26.3; 5. (1) Tennessee, 7:26.7; 6. (5) Michigan State, 7:28.0.

Petite Final: 1. (2) Clemson, 7:37.2; 2. (6) Kansas State (Cox: Stephanie Black; 4: Stephanie Nichols; 3: Erin Erhart; 2: Sarah Trapp; Bow: Leslie Burgdorfer), 7:37.4.

Grand Final: 1. (1) Virginia, 6:38.5; 2. (1) Ohio State, 6:39.8; 3. (2) Duke, 6:40.5; 4. (3) Texas, 6:45.1; 5. (2) Michigan State, 6:47.3; 6. (3) Michigan, 6:49.4.

Petite Final: 1. (4) Kansas, 6:46.1; 2. (4) Clemson, 6:47.6; 3. (5) Notre Dame, 6:48.3; 4. (5) Tennessee, 6:50.6; 5. (6) Indiana, 6:51.0; 6. (6) Miami (Fla.), 6:52.6.

C Final: 1. (7) Cincinnati, 7:01.0; 2. (8) Eastern Michigan, 7:02.9; 3. (7) North Carolina, 7:09.2; 4. (8) SMU, 7:15.3.

Grand Final: 1. (1) Ohio State, 6:58.1; 2. (1) Virginia, 7:04.2; 3. (2) Michigan State, 7:06.2; 4. (2) Clemson, 7:10.6; 5. (3) Miami (Fla.), 7:43.8.