LAWRENCE, KA — The sky was gray, the air drizzly, and the Kaw River was colder than it looked. But by the time the first boats pushed off the dock Sunday morning, the riverbanks were lined with fans, many still lingering after the Kansas-Kansas State football showdown the day before. However, this time, the fans were awaiting a rivalry of a different kind.
Creighton joined Kansas, Kansas State and Tulsa for the annual fall regatta, which was moved to Sunday because of game-day traffic in downtown Lawrence. The weather barely cracked 54 degrees at the start, but the crowd’s turnout suggested otherwise.
With staggered 5,000-meter starts, each crew launched 45 minutes early to paddle to the line and prepare for the headwind that greeted them off the start.
“Dan always says, ‘row the race that’s given to you,’ whether that’s the [weather] conditions, the teams, or your level of preparation,” junior Laurel Kieffer said, recalling her coach’s steady advice. “In the first half of the race, you’re going head-on in a headwind. We were trying to keep our splits low … it was a little hard mentally, but once we came around the corner, we were able to push harder.”
Kieffer, who competed in both the top varsity eight and four, said the team was eager for another shot at Kansas State after a strong showing at the Head of the Charles earlier this month.
“We raced against the K-State four at the Head of the Charles, and they won, so we were excited to go up against them again and put up a good fight,” she said.
For the second varsity eight, sophomore Addy Gregoire said the conditions made for an unpredictable but rewarding race.
“The conditions were only rough for the first 2k, but we got out of the wind in the latter half and started flying,” she said. “As the 2v boat, we practice being chased down by boats every day, and so we’ve learned how to fight them off. We try to remind ourselves that we are faster than we think we are.”
Coxswain Emily Gleason, who steered both the second varsity eight and third varsity four, had to make quick adjustments on the water.
“It was worse in the fours race because I had boats on both of my sides,” she said. “We were sandwiched a bit for a second there, but we stayed calm and got back into it.”
She described her role as a mix of strategy and instinct. “You cox the race you see,” Gleason said. “If originally, my plan is to Power 10 at the 500-meter or 1,000-meter mark, and we can’t do that, we’re gonna wait. We pivot and might do something else.”
Coxswains like Gleason know the importance of teammates being on the same page. Though she does not lead stroke sets, Gregoire also emphasized the importance of team chemistry, which she says is strengthened by this year’s small class of novices.
“I’m feeling like I’m getting to know them all really well, which is super nice,” she said.
Junior Summer Ryan, who rowed in both the first varsity eight and second varsity four, said the smaller novice class has developed quickly under close coaching.
“They’ve been able to learn stuff quicker because they can get more attention from the coaches,” Ryan said. “I’m really impressed with their improvement and proud of these girls for stepping up and trying something new in college.”
Head coach Dan Chipps seconded Ryan’s opinion. “I’m excited, and they were excited coming off the water today,” he said. “In the spring, there’s no novice or varsity. It’s just everybody. So we’re gonna have to move some people around to make the fastest top [boats] we can.”
Chipps said he’s encouraged by how Creighton continues to compete against programs with more resources. “We’re going against the upper tier of women’s rowing,” he said. “They obviously have way more scholarships and funding. But we come out and give them a run for their money.”
That drive has been shown in the team’s results. At the Head of the Charles over fall break, Creighton placed 12th out of 30 boats, improving from 16th two years ago.
The Bluejays will close their fall season with the annual rivalry race against Drake, a series of short sprint pieces that dates back more than 30 years to when both programs were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. It remains one of the team’s longest-running traditions, and Creighton has held the trophy for several seasons in a row.
“It’s the most fun race of the fall,” Ryan said. “It’s a pretty big deal to bring back that trophy.”
As the team prepares for colder Omaha days and a shift to indoor training, their fall campaign has reflected the same thing Chipps asks of them on the water: to row the race that’s given to them, and keep pushing.