LAWRENCE, Kan. The coveted Kansas Cup remains in Manhattan as the Kansas State women’s rowing team won its annual spring dual with in-state rival Kansas for the second-straight year with a 13-8 victory over the Jayhawks Saturday afternoon in head-to-head competition on the Kansas River.

K-State opened up its spring version of the Sunflower Showdown with the First Novice Eight (6:32.6) finishing 6.9 seconds ahead of KU (6:39.5). The Wildcats would later claim two more victories in the Varsity Four (7:19.9) and Second Varsity Eight (6:26.1) to put the race out of reach for the Jayhawks in possible team scoring.

Using different lineups for Saturday’s dual from the ones used at last weekend’s San Diego Crew Classic, the Wildcats didn’t show any signs of unfamiliarity on the water. Coxswain Stephanie Black, Amy Wagner, Kristin Alstatt, Kari Chadd, Elise vander Putten, Kelsey Frasier, Heather Gerstner, Danielle Scott and Jamie Holt, powered the Second Varsity Eight boat to the largest winning-length (9.2 seconds) by any of the squad’s four boats.

“It was a good team effort today,” Kansas State head coach Patrick Sweeney said. “They (rowers) all stepped up and did a really good job. With the lineup changes, they handled the change very well and just went out and competed hard. Their performance showed that we can change lineups and still win races. I was very pleased with the first three races. The First Varsity Eight raced hard and had good length, but were two strokes lower than when they raced in San Diego last weekend. Overall, they all did their job, because you build a team, not just one boat.”

Both teams saw good racing conditions with a slight tailwind on the 2,000-meter course. This is the first time in school history the Wildcats have defeated KU in back-to-back Kansas Cup meetings since the inaugural race in 1998.

“It (Kansas Cup victory) shows where we are going as a team,” Sweeney said. “We are starting to win in the championship season. Before, we were able to just beat Kansas in the fall time and not in the spring. We are still relatively a young team, but we are starting to close the gap against KU and we will see them again next weekend.”

Up next, K-State will face top regional and ranked crews at the Southern IRA’s on April 14-15 in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

KANSAS CUP

Kansas State 13, Kansas 8

Saturday, April 8

Kansas River at Burcham Park

at Lawrence, Kan.

FIRST NOVICE EIGHT (5 points)

1, Kansas State, 6:32.6, 2, Kansas, 6:39.5.

VARSITY FOUR (3 points)

1, Kansas State, 7:19.9, 2, Kansas, 7:20.4.

SECOND VARSITY EIGHT (5 points)

1, Kansas State, 6:26.2, 2, Kansas, 6:35.4.

FIRST VARSITY EIGHT (8 points)

1, Kansas, 6:14.8, 2, Kansas State, 6:16.9.