RALEIGH, N.C. – The High Point University women's rowing team completed the two-day event at the Lake Wheeler Invite hosted by University of North Carolina and Duke University on Saturday afternoon.
 
Head Coach Jessica Deitrick: "This was a good weekend of competitive racing for us. It's exciting to see the hard work from training come together for each boat.  The team motto is BUILD and that is exactly what we have done all season: build upon our base speed, and now we head home for our final preparations to finish the build before the MAC championship in May."

Over two days of racing, the Panthers competed in 12 different races throughout the weekend against top competition from around the country.

High Point's 2V4 went out first in lane three, coxswained by Kat Chandler, finishing with a time of 8:14.120. The V4 followed in lane two, coxswained by Arianna Ording, and posted a time of 8:09.830 to wrap up the varsity four morning races on Lake Wheeler.

The first of the eights for HPU came as the 2V8 started in lane three, coxswained by Carolyn Fox, and finished with a time of 7:10.710, just eight seconds behind Villanova. The Panthers' 1V8 closed the morning session with a competitive race, finishing in 6:54.920, coxswained by Grayson Williams.

Friday afternoon's second session on Lake Wheeler began with the 2V4 posting a time of 8:43.300. The 1V4 then finished ahead of Old Dominion with a time of 8:15.970 for sixth place. The 2V8, again coxswained by Fox, also placed sixth and finished ahead of ODU with a time of 7:08.710 in its final race of the day.

To close day one, the 1V8 recorded the Panthers' best finish of Friday with a fifth place result, finishing ahead of Lehigh and ODU in 7:02.670 to cap the opening day in Raleigh.

On day two, the 2V4 opened the morning with a time of 8:10.460, coxswained by Chandler, before the 1V4, with Ording at coxswain, finished in 7:59.850.

The 2V8 pushed through its final race of the event, finishing ahead of West Virginia with a time of 7:02.240, coxswained by Fox.

The final race of the invitational came in the 1V8, where HPU closed strong with another fifth place finish, ahead of West Virginia and Lehigh, crossing in 6:49.920 for its strongest finish of the regatta.

Up Next: High Point will compete for a Mid-American Conference Championship in Ypsilanti Michigan on Saturday, May 16 on Ford Lake.