CHERRY HILL, NJ. - The Oklahoma City University men's and women's rowing team traveled to Pennsauken, NJ for racing on the Cooper River this past weekend. The team walked away with two first-place finishes and medaled in addition to medaling in three other events. The regatta was condensed to one day due to high winds and unsafe conditions on Saturday. 

Racing kicked off at 7:00 am with freshman Vojin Kovacevic in the men's 1x. After a slower start, Kovacevic performed well in the second half of the 2000m race to take second in his heat with a time of 8:13.76. His time was good for fourth overall; the winning time for the men's 1x belonged to Marist's single sculler with a time of 7:40.40.

Sophomores Keaton Knopp and Kyle Brown took to the water shortly after, starting what would be a string of medal performances for the remaining five OCU crews racing on Sunday. Knopp and Brown trailed Stetson to begin the race but moved through them as the race went on to win by 7.25 seconds with a time of 7:16.02. They were the fastest men's pair on the day. 

Next on the water for OCU was the women's lightweight 2x of Ruthie Lacy and Lucy Oney. Racing against Wisconsin, Thomas Jefferson, Merchant Marine, and Boston University in their heat, Lacy and Oney executed their race plan well to post a time of 7:56.33, second in their heat to BU. Of the twenty-two women's doubles, their time would hold up to place third overall behind two doubles from Boston University. 

The men's double of Joe Fruehwirth and Ayden Ressler, found a good rhythm in their race to post a time of 7:20.15, 5.56 seconds behind first-place Gordon College. Fruehwirth and Ressler would have a quick turnaround into the men's freshman 4+ event 30 minutes later. Teaming up with Kovacevic and Ethan Romburgh, the duo would post the fastest time of all freshman fours with a 6:58.90. Michigan took second (6:59.93) and USMMA placed third with a time of 7:08.90. Twenty-one crews raced in the freshman four event.

Rounding out the day for OCU was the men's varsity four of Knopp, Brown, Romburgh, and junior Elias Dahl. The crew found itself in a good race with Temple and LaSalle in the second heat of the men's 4s. Temple would pull away, yet OCU held off LaSalle in the last 250m of the race to place second in the heat (6:50.00) and third overall, behind two crews from Temple. 

"We were fortunate to get in quality racing versus solid competition before we head into Dad Vails in one month. This regatta was another good opportunity to gather information about our speed and test out our race execution. We know what we want to work on the next few weeks leading up to our next race," said Head Coach Cory Conzemius.

OCU is back in action, with the full squad returning to the Cooper River May 10-11 for the Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta. 

RACE LINEUPS:

Men's 1x: Vojin Kovacevic

Men's 2-: Keaton Knopp, Kyle Brown

Women's 2x: Ruthie Lacy, Lucy Oney

Men's 2x: Joe Fruehwirth, Ayden Ressler

Men's Freshman 4+: Vojin Kovacevic, Ethan Romburgh, Joe Fruehwirth, Ayden Ressler (Coxed by Tristian Hill)

Men's Varsity 4+ Keaton Knopp, Kyle Brown, Elias Dahl, Ethan Romburgh (Coxed by Santiago Arias)

The Oklahoma City University men's rowing team started its spring season on the Oklahoma River on March 30th, racing against The University of Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Wichita State. Conditions were great for racing with a slight cross-headwind and light chop.

"It was nice to be back on our home river and getting in some early season race pieces," said Head Coach Cory Conzemius, "This was an opportunity for us to test our speed in certain lineup combinations and remember what a 2000m race is like. Our athletes learned a lot as we got our spring season started."

Racing kicked off at 9:15 am with the men's second varsity four racing against the varsity fours of Wichita State and Oklahoma State as well as a second varsity four from OSU. OCU won the event with a time of 7 minutes 29 seconds, over one minute ahead of the varsity four from Oklahoma State. 

Next up, the men's first varsity four raced the women's varsity eights from Central Oklahoma, Wichita State, and Oklahoma State. The men's four crossed the finish line first in a time of 7 minutes and 21 seconds. UCO's women's eight finished 17 seconds behind, good for second place. 

In the men's varsity 8+, OCU's crew, stroked by sophomore Keaton Knopp, raced to a 30-second victory over Wichita State and Oklahoma State. Their time of 6 minutes 50 seconds was the fastest time of all crews racing this weekend.

OCU's men's double of Pavle Glisic and Jack Fruehwirth challenged themselves to race the novice men's eights from Wichita State and Oklahoma State. They would cross the finish line just behind Wichita State.

Freshman Ethan Romburgh took to the water for his third race of the morning in the men's single, racing against Wichita State and a sculler from the OKC High-Performance team. Romburgh finished with a time of 8 minutes 46 seconds, 4 seconds behind the HP sculler, and 1 minute 21 seconds ahead of Wichita State.

Rounding out the racing, OCU sent two pairs out to race Oklahoma State over a shortened 1000m course. Freshmen Ayden Ressler and Joe Fruehwirth took the early lead before sophomores Kyle Brown and Keaton Knopp overtook them across the finish line. 

Freshman Joe Fruehwirth had this to say following racing: "It was a great start to my collegiate rowing career. First time racing a 2K in sweep boats."

The OCU rowing team has been training for the last month and a half at Lake Overholser due to the river being drained. The team will send a select group of athletes to New Jersey from April 13-14 to race at the Knecht Cup Regatta on the Cooper River. 

BOAT LINEUPS (from bow to stern)

2nd Varsity 4+: Pavle Glisic, Elias Dahl, Joe Fruehwirth, Ayden Ressler (coxed by Tristian Hill)

1st Varsity 4+: Ethan Romburgh, Vojin Kovacevic, Kyle Brown, Keaton Knopp (coxed by Dylan McGowen)

1st Varsity 8+: Jack Fruehwirth, Elias Dahl, Joe Fruehwirth, Ayden Ressler, Ethan Romburgh, Vojin Kovacevic, Kyle Brown, Keaton Knopp (coxed by Dylan McGowen)

Men's Varsity 2x: Pavle Glisic, Jack Fruehwirth

Men's Varsity 1x: Ethan Romburgh

Men's Varsity 2-: Kyle Brown, Keaton Knopp

Men's Varsity 2-: Joe Fruehwirth, Ayden Ressler

The Oklahoma City University women's rowing team started its spring season on the Oklahoma River on March 30th, racing against The University of Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Wichita State. Conditions were great for racing with a slight cross-headwind and light chop.

OCU's lightweight women's double of Lucy Oney and Ruthie Lacy raced down the 2000m course against the first and second varsity fours from the University of Central Oklahoma, Wichita State, and Oklahoma State. Their time of 8 minutes 42 seconds was good for a 10-second margin between the next closest boat from Wichita State. 

Ruthie and Lucy will be back in action April 13-14 in Cherry Hill, NJ as they race at the Knecht Cup. "The Knecht Cup will be a very good opportunity for Ruthie and Lucy to see high-quality competition and other lightweight doubles they may race later in the season," said Coach Cory Conzemius.

BOAT LINEUPS (from bow to stern)

Women's Lightweight 2x: Lucy Oney, Ruthie Lacy