The No. 11 rowing team competed against No. 7 Princeton and No. 20 Pennsylvania at Lake Carnegie, securing one first-place finish and three second-place results on May 2.
This event marked the end of the regular season for the Knights as they raced against two other nationally ranked teams. The competition provided an opportunity for the team to measure their performance ahead of upcoming championships.
The Knights began with their First Varsity Eight, featuring coxswain Audrey Vilendrer and rowers Sofia Naboni Nevado, Ines Martin, Luna Kuiper, Lucy Buckingham, Coralie Detre, Brigitte Kappler, Amalie Thorsen, and Hannah Lovejoy. They finished in second place with a time of 06:49.1, seven seconds behind Princeton but ahead of Pennsylvania by more than twelve seconds.
In the Second Varsity Eight race, coxed by Sophia Tursi with rowers Sofia Scott, Maja Misljenovic, Bella Montalvo, Maci Brede, Olivia Werner, Lexi Sanchez, Madison Lovejoy and Lujza Kovacs also finished second behind Princeton (07:07.6), narrowly edging out Pennsylvania (07:07.9).
The First Varsity Four crew—coxswain Vianna Smith along with Kesha Bruinette, Julia Schultz, Sophia Keller and Amber Tulloch—earned UCF’s only victory of the day after overtaking both opponents in the latter half of their race to finish at 07:57.1.
In the Second Varsity Four event led by coxswain Eliza Shaffer with Cate Maloney, Tea Zivkovic Aisling Landers and Sofia Palacios onboard—the Knights led early but ultimately placed second to Princeton (07:58.3). The Quakers followed in third.
Looking ahead to postseason competition next for UCF is the Big 12 Championships at Nathan Benderson Park on May 17 where they will aim to defend their conference title.
