MANHATTAN, Kan. After Kansas held the Sunflower Showdown title for two years, Kansas State rowing recaptured the team crown after defeating the Jayhawks 16-9 at Tuttle Creek Reservoir on Saturday. The Wildcats earned the bragging rights by taking first place in all three varsity events. K-State now leads the all-time Sunflower Showdown series 6-5.

K-State opened the competition with a three-point lead after racing to the line first in the Varsity 4+. The Wildcats won with a time of 8:48.5 to defeat Kansas by 16.41 seconds. Off the start K-State opened a small lead over KU, and as the boats progressed down the course the Wildcats were able to gradually increase the margin to a comfortable lead. The victory marks the fifth Varsity 4+ win for the Wildcats in the Showdown.

In the Novice 8+ races, the Jayhawks took victories with all three of their boats. This set up the Jayhawks in the team scoring with a 9-3 lead over the Wildcats.

The next race of the day saw the Wildcats 2nd Varsity 8+ take a hard fought win over KU. The boats ran even for the first half of the race, but the Wildcats were able to dig deep and push ahead of the Jayhawks over the next 500 meters. K-State kept a clean and lively race to cross the finish line 4.47 seconds ahead of the Jayhawks. This win put the team title on the shoulders of the First Varsity 8+, as whichever team won the final event would win the overall team title.

In the First Varsity 8+ race, the Wildcats got off to a clean start and into a nice rhythm which placed them about two seats up on the Jayhawks. K-State was able to squeeze out to a slightly larger lead of about five seats coming into the last 500 meters. When KU began their attack the Wildcats were able to not only hold off the charge, but also open up a larger margin in the last 30 strokes of the race.

“I am really pleased with the way the Varsity showed great maturity in their racing, especially for such a young team” head coach Patrick Sweeney said. “We expected this to be close racing on the Varsity side, and that is exactly what we got. It was nice to see our athletes rise to the challenge and come away with the victories. This is a nice way to finish off the fall training, as we head into our preparations for the Spring Championship season.”

The Wildcats will continue training during the winter months while they await the spring season to start with the Longhorn Invitational March 21-23 in Austin, Texas. For complete coverage of the K-State rowing team, please visit www.kstatesports.com.

Sunflower Showdown Results

Final Team Scoring:

Kansas State 16

Kansas 9

Varsity 4+ (3 points)

1.        Kansas State 8:48.5

2.        Kansas 9:04.91

3.        Kansas (exhibition) 9:36.38

Third Novice 8+ (1 point)

1.        Kansas 8:51.0

2.        Kansas State 9:33.84

Second Novice 8+ (3 points)

1.        Kansas 8:13.03

2.        Kansas State 8:48.65

First Novice 8+ (5 points)

1.        Kansas 7:53.0

2.        Kansas State 8:00.12

Second Varsity 8+ (5 points)

1.        Kansas State 7:36.1

2.        Kansas 7:40.57

First Varsity 8+ (8 points)

1.        Kansas State 7:26.0

2.        Kansas 7:29.03