In addition, the Knights placed seven on the all-conference team.聽Marija Medelinskaite,聽Nicole Mayer,聽Grace Lindberg聽and聽Julie Poulsen聽earned first team honors, while聽Edvina Nesukaityte,聽Elena Esteban聽and聽Luci Derrick聽were named to the second team.

With the title, the 麻豆原创 rowing team and the UConn women鈥檚 basketball program remain the only two women鈥檚 sports to achieve the feat of five consecutive titles in The American.

Capturing that fifth-straight title wasn鈥檛 easy. With weather looking to be a factor all weekend, the championship was moved up to Friday morning and the order of racing was reversed.

The Varsity Eight, now the first race of the day, rowed to the start only to be delayed聽after high winds and debris damaged lane lines at the start. A second delay due to a breakage prompted the event to be moved back yet again.

鈥淭hey went out and they handled themselves very well and relied on each other as a team.鈥� 鈥� Becky Cramer, 麻豆原创 head coach

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a crazy year,鈥� 麻豆原创 head coach聽Becky Cramer聽says. 鈥淥ur team has really gotten used to expecting the unexpected. They went out and they handled themselves very well and relied on each other as a team.鈥�

Instead, 麻豆原创鈥檚 Second Varsity Eight opened the racing. Coming in as the favorites, the squad of聽Elena Esteban,聽Aly Derksen,聽Lauryn Bench,聽Maria Yim,聽Rusne Dziugyte,聽Shannon Perry,聽Michaela Gundrum,聽Rachel Rabinowitz聽and聽Abbie Pritchard, delivered to win the event for the fifth straight year. The crew held off SMU to post a winning time of 7:09.336.

鈥淲e just wanted to get the momentum going and light a little fire under our teammates so they could go into their races feeling confident and ready to make all of us proud,鈥� Rabinowitz says.

The Varsity Four picked up a title of its own, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back in an open water victory. The squad of聽Ciera Jarrett,聽Chiara Ciullo,聽Jessica Matteson,聽Paula Parks聽and聽Amy Van Ryn聽crossed the line in 8:07.240.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been an incredible season; I鈥檓 glad to be a part of it.鈥� 鈥� Jessica Matteson, 麻豆原创 rower

鈥淚t鈥檚 just in indescribable feeling,鈥� Matteson says. 鈥淭hese girls worked so hard. It鈥檚 been an incredible season; I鈥檓 glad to be a part of it.鈥�

Following a new scoring pattering in 2019, the Varsity Eight race rounded out the scored events. In order to defend its team title, 麻豆原创 would need to finish in the top two. The crew of聽Nicole Mayer,聽Lara Maule,聽Julie Poulsen,聽Grace Lindberg,聽Mia Cleary,聽Leslie Lajoie,聽Marija Medelinskaite,聽Edvina Nesukaityte聽and聽Luci Derrick聽crossed the line second in 7:19.181 to secure the team title.

Rowing becomes the fifth program at 麻豆原创 this year to win a conference trophy, joining football, men鈥檚 soccer (regular season), volleyball and women’s tennis.

麻豆原创 has earned The American鈥檚 automatic bid to the NCAA Championship for the fifth-straight year. 麻豆原创鈥檚 teams have produced one of the most well-rounded and successful years in school history during the 2018-19 season. In addition to women’s rowing, the Knights’ volleyball, men鈥檚 soccer, men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball, women’s and men’s tennis and women鈥檚 golf teams all clinched NCAA Tournament berths while the football team appeared in its second straight New Year鈥檚 Six bowl game.

The Knights now set their sights on the 2019 NCAA Rowing Championship, which is set for May 31-June 2 in Indianapolis, Indiana.聽麻豆原创 matched earned the highest seeding in school history in all three events: Varsity Eight (No. 18); Second Varsity Eight (No. 16) and the Varsity Four (No. 15).

Last year, the Knights posted the fourth straight top 20 team finish at the NCAA Rowing Championship in Sarasota.

Following the opener, the UKNIGHT Tour will move up to Seminole County and Orlando Sanford International Airport Tuesday evening.

After week one, the tour will make stops in Melbourne on May 1, downtown Orlando on May 7, Tampa on May 8, The Villages on May 9, West Palm Beach on May 23 and Fort Lauderdale on May 24.

For more information on the entire tour and to RSVP, call the Golden Knights Club at (407) 882-1289 or visit /athletics/.

Monday will mark the first time the annual tour will feature a stop on campus. New Vice President and Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury will be joined by Head Football Coach George O’Leary, Head Men’s Basketball Coach Donnie Jones, Head Women’s Basketball Coach , Head Baseball Coach , Head Men’s Soccer Coach , Head Women’s Soccer Coach Amanda Cromwell, Head Volleyball Coach , Head Rowing Coach and Assistant Women’s Tennis Coach 聽for the kickoff event. Meanwhile, Stansbury, Coach O’Leary and Dagenais will be on hand Tuesday as well.

Every event will run from 6-8 p.m. and feature giveaways and prize drawings. The programs begin with a meet-and-greet highlighted by free hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. Marc Daniels, the Voice of the Knights, and former 麻豆原创 men’s basketball standout Mike O’Donnell聽will emcee the tour.

Representatives from other 麻豆原创 sports programs, the Golden Knights Club, the 麻豆原创 Alumni Association and 麻豆原创 Athletics also will be attending the events.

>2012 UKNIGHT Tour Week One – All Tour Stops Run From 6-8 p.m.
Monday, April 23 –
East Orlando (Kick-off Event)
J. Rolfe Davis Recruiting Lounge at Bright House Networks Stadium
Parking: Lots E6 & E7
Featured Guests: Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury, Head Football Coach George O’Leary, Head Women’s Basketball Coach , Head Baseball Coach , Head Volleyball Coach , Head Men’s Soccer Coach , Head Women’s Soccer Coach Amanda Cromwell, Head Rowing Coach , Assistant Women’s Tennis Coach

Tuesday, April 24 –
Seminole County
South East Ramp at Orlando Sanford International Airport
2150 Spinner Lane
Sanford, FL 32773
407-998-2059
Featured Guests: Todd Stansbury, George O’Leary,

C-USA awards the scholar athlete honor to the top student-athletes in each conference-sponsored sport. The award winners are determined by the Faculty Athletics Representatives at each C-USA institution.

An elementary education major with a minor in coaching, Lauzon boasts a 3.937 grade point average.

“We are very proud of Chelsey. This is a huge honor because there are so many talented student-athletes in our conference,” 麻豆原创 rowing head coach Becky Cramer. “She works so hard and brings so much to our team. This is a great achievement that is well deserved.”

Lauzon was recently named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association All-South Region First Team for the third-consecutive season. As a junior, she rowed in every varsity eight race for the Knights. She led the Black and Gold to a fourth-place finish at the C-USA Rowing Championships, while being named to the All-C-USA Rowing Team for the second time, and was also a member of the crew that won C-USA Boat of the Week honors on April 12.

Lauzon was also named to the C-USA All-Academic Team for the second-straight season in 2011, while she is a three-time recipient of the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal and is a three-time member of the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll.

Over the course of the year, Lauzon and the Knights defeated Kansas State at the Longhorn Invitational and posted a nearly seven-second victory over league-rival Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Lauzon helped lead the varsity eight boat to a first-place finish in the C Group Final at the Lake Natoma Invitational with wins over Oregon State and Sacramento State and also posted a nearly 10-second win vs. Miami in the varsity eight boat at the 麻豆原创 Regatta.

The positives include being able to compete head-to-head with the competition, something that should make the Knights faster come Saturday’s start of the C-USA Rowing Championship regatta on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The negatives are that there is pressure that invariably comes with the stand-alone format of racing. 麻豆原创 finished second to Tennessee last year and already owns impressive victories this season against the likes of Alabama and Kansas State. But this time around they will be rowing against Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma – three schools who have been nationally ranked at various times this season – and Cramer is eager to see how her 麻豆原创 squad stacks up.

“We’re very excited about this, especially with it being the first true stand-alone championship. We definitely feel a little pressure, but we’re excited about what a race like this can mean to us,” Cramer said. “Three teams from our conference have been ranked this year, so it will be a challenge for us and one that we’re excited to face. I’ve seen a lot of improvement from our team this season and we’re looking forward to it.”

Conference USA rowing is composed of schools that traditionally compete in other power conferences in other sports. Only three traditional C-USA schools – 麻豆原创, SMU and Tulsa – will be on hand for the regatta. Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas will be competing from the Big 12, while Tennessee will be the host school. Alabama ended its season following the tornadoes that destroyed much of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and the Knights will be wearing commemorative ribbons on their jerseys in honor of the Crimson Tide’s team.

The unquestioned leader of 麻豆原创’s drive for a championship is junior Chelsey Lauzon, a two-time All-Region performer and a member of the inaugural All-C-USA Team last year. This season, Lauzon rowed in every varsity-eight race for the Knights and was a member of the crew that won C-USA Boat of the Week honors on April 12. Lauzon and the Knights defeated Kansas State at the Longhorn Invitational and posted a nearly seven-second victory over league-rival Alabama in Tuscaloosa. She helped lead the varsity-eight boat to a first-place finish in the C Group Final at the Lake Natoma Invitational with wins over Oregon State and Sacramento State and also posted a nearly 10-second win versus Miami in the varsity eight boat at the 麻豆原创 Regatta.

“She just has that motivation, desire and drive and puts in so much time,” Cramer said. “She just cares so much about going fast and does whatever it takes to be successful. Everyone sees that in her and it inspires us all.”

Cramer said last season’s second-place finish to Tennessee at the C-USA Rowing Championship helped to motivate her team that great things could come in the future. She said she couldn’t be happier with the focus of this team and she’s eager to see how it stacks up against some elite competition come Saturday and Sunday.

“(Finishing second) did drive us, and that’s another reason why we’re excited about the stand-alone conference race,” Cramer said. “In the varsity eight we finished third, but we never got to compete against Oklahoma. Finishing second in our group just motivated them to push and push for more and we feel like we’re ready now.”

Source: John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on 麻豆原创Athletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.

“Being on the water and being able to see the crowd was really exciting,” head coach Becky Cramer said. “I know the team is really appreciative of all the support it received today.”

The Black and Gold placed first in the varsity eight, second varsity four, novice four and varsity four events, while placing second in the novice eight race.

During the regatta, the Knights’ eight seniors, Stephanie Carillo, Stephanie Galo, Monica Larkin, Liz Robinson, Samantha Sarff, Dayna Bentel, Brittany Skidmore and Leah VanLear, were honored for their hard work and dedication to the 麻豆原创 rowing program.

“Our seniors, this year in particular, have seen a lot of change in the program and have grown and been a stable force for us despite all of that change. They bring a lot of maturity to the squad and it’s great to have them help bring perspective.”

In the opening event, the Knights’ varsity eight A squad set the tone for the entire regatta as it defeated Miami by a 9.7 second margin to claim first-place honors. 麻豆原创’s varsity eight B team crossed the finish line just one second behind the Hurricanes in third place, while Jacksonville placed fourth.

“The team stayed really focused and trained hard all week, despite having finals and everything else going on in their lives during that time,” Cramer said. “They have been working all season to push out bigger margins. They just show up every day and work hard.”

In the second varsity four event, the Black and Gold’s A squad once again claimed top honors with a time of 7:39.3, while the B squad followed closely behind in second place in a time of 7:44.2. Stetson rounded out the field in third place with a time of 7:52.2.

麻豆原创’s novice eight boat finished just behind the Hurricanes in its event, before the novice four team had its A and B boats finish one-two with times of 8:20.7 and 8:31.3, respectively in their event. Miami finished third with a time of 8:58.0 and the Knights’ C squad concluded the race in fourth.

In the final event of the day, 麻豆原创’s varsity four B boat crossed in a time of 7:38.8 to claim first-place honors. Miami’s B boat finished in second, while the Knights’ A squad posted a 7:52.9 time to place third. The Hurricane’s A team rounded out the field in a time of 8:02.7.

麻豆原创 returns to action May 14 when it competes for the Conference USA Championship in Oak Ridge, Tenn., before taking part in the Oak Ridge Invitational May 15.

麻豆原创 Regatta Results

Varsity 8+

Second Varsity 4+

Novice 8+

Novice 4+

Varsity 4+

1. 麻豆原创 B – 7:38.8
2. Miami B – 7:43.7
3. 麻豆原创 A – 7:52.9
4. Miami A – 8:02.7

A member of the GMS Rowing Center team, Robinson, along with Kim Hopewell, Lauren Nelson and Devery Karz, defeated the field in a 6:47.382. U.S. Rowing Development Camp – University of Wisconsin crossed second in a 6:52.730, followed by Penn A.C. in a 7:00.724.

The World Rowing Under 23 Championships showcase up-and-coming athletes who are too old to compete at the junior level but are still in need of further development to rank among top senior elite rowers. Held for the first time in 1976 in Macon, France, under the title “Seniors Match,” it eventually became the “Nations Cup” in 1992. FISA’s 2005 Extraordinary Congress in Dubrovnik, Croatia, voted to upgrade the World Rowing Under 23 Regatta to world rowing championship status. The first official World Rowing Under 23 Championships were raced in 2004. Approximately 600 athletes from 40 countries compete annually.

During 麻豆原创’s 2010 campaign, Robinson helped lead the varsity eight team to second-place honors at the inaugural Conference USA Rowing Championships. The varsity eight squad also claimed a fourth-place South Region finish at the South/Central Regional Championship held in conjunction with the C-USA event, and 11th place overall honors at the regatta.