HIGH POINT, N.C.  - The High Point University women's rowing team completed its first race of the spring season at Oak Hollow Lake on Saturday morning.

Head Coach Jessica Deitrick: "Today we had a great opportunity to line up with two great teams and test our early season speed. There were things that went well for each boat and a lot of things to continue to work on. We have a few days before we leave for Sarasota 2k and we are determined to learn from this weekend, improve upon our results and attack the next opportunity we are given. Thank you to both UNC and Colgate for coming out, my staff for all of the help with set up and the officials who came out to help with the race today!"

The Panthers opened its spring season this weekend, competing against University of North Carolina and Colgate University.

The Panthers were led by their 1V8 crew, accompanied by coxswain Grayson Williams, Genevieve Alexander, Anna Venditti, Saige Wiggins, Riley Verner, Audrey Houle, Alexandra Laufer, Annabelle Everding, and Kate Concepcion. This boat turned in a time of 7:04.3 to finish third, just seconds behind Colgate. HPU showed strong pace throughout the race, continuing to close the gap as the spring season starts to ramp up.

In the 2V8, which saw Carolyn Fox as the coxswain, Lucy Laborde, Rylee Templar, Willow Conley, Michaela Islas, Kiarra Shouder, Avery Falor, Anneke Calhoun, and Madelyn Cummings posted a 7:24.7 time, finishing ahead of Colgate and gaining valuable experience against multiple North Carolina boats.

High Point also saw a competitive outing from its 1V4 crew from Caitlin Enright, Lucia Calvert at coxswain, Aliyah Strickland, Sydney Rogness, and Gabby Caintic which clocked an 8:17.7 in a tight race with Colgate.

The Panthers continued to battle in the 2V4, finishing with a time of 8:34.2 and remaining within striking distance throughout the event. Bailey White, Caelyn Jordan, Cate Ward, and Arianna Ording as coxswain rounded out the boats for HPU in the first race of the 2026 spring season.

Up Next: High Point's spring season continues when they travel to Sarasota, Florida for the Sarasota 2K that spans from Friday, March 27 to Saturday, March 28.