Cardinals Head to Lake Wheeler Invitational

Lake Wheeler Invitational
Dates: April 26-27, 2024
Location: Raleigh, N.C. | Lake Wheeler
Participating Schools: (RV) Alabama, Boston College, Boston University, Clemson, No. 16 Duke, Georgetown, Iowa, Kansas, Louisville, (RV) Miami, Navy, No. 10 Syracuse, (RV) UCF, North Carolina, No. 5 Tennessee, Tulsa, No. 11 Penn, and No. 18 Washington State are scheduled to compete.
Coverage: Results
Live Streaming:
Friday morning beginning at 10 AM
Friday afternoon beginning at 3 PM
Saturday morning beginning at 9 AM

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville rowing team will return to action this weekend when the Cardinals head to Raleigh, N.C., to compete in the prestigious Lake Wheeler Invitational which will be co-hosted by Duke and North Carolina on Friday and Saturday.

"This is one of the biggest and most competitive regattas of the year," said UofL head coach Derek Copeland. "We intend to transfer our race execution from SIRA to an even bigger stage. We saw many of these teams at ORCI and Sunshine State Invitational and would love to see what kind of improvements that we have made in the weeks since."

The highly-competitive field consists of 18 teams, five of which are ranked among the Pocock Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association top 20 including: No. 5 Tennessee, No. 10 Syracuse, No. 16 Duke, No. 11 Penn and No. 18 Washington State along with three teams receiving votes (Alabama, Miami and UCF). The regatta competitors also include fellow ACC teams: Boston College, Clemson and North Carolina.

"I'm super excited for the Lake Wheeler Invite this weekend!" said sophomore Olivia Guarnaccia. "After lots of challenging workouts on the erg the past few weeks I think it's a great opportunity for our team to showcase its speed up and continue our momentum forward against solid competition."

Louisville will have boats competing in the varsity eight, second varsity eight, third varsity eight and varsity four races. The Cardinals will take to the water starting Friday at 10:10 a.m. with the first round of the 3V8 followed by the V4 (11:10 a.m.), 2V8 (11:40 a.m.) and V8 (12:10 p.m.). Visit here for the complete schedule and results.

"I'm excited to race some teams that we have already seen to see if we have gained speed," said junior Kaylie Leonard. "This is always an exciting race weekend."

This marks the fourth event of the spring for the Cardinals who were most recently in action last weekend at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship and took home first-place finishes with the varsity eight and second varsity eight boats.

"We are coming off a strong weekend down in Oak Ridge at the SIRA Championships, where we got a taste of winning," said assistant coach Brian Reifsnyder. "Now, we are hungry for a little more, and want build on that success this weekend at Lake Wheeler in all of our boats."

The Pocock Lake Wheeler Invitational Cup will be awarded to the team with the greatest number of points. The following guidelines are how teams accumulate points.

Varsity Eight boats will receive 12, 8, or 4 points for first, second and third. Second Varsity Eight will be awarded 9, 6, or 3 for first, second and third. Varsity Fours will earn 6, 4, or 2 points first, second and third. Second Varsity Fours will earn 3, 2, 1 points and Third Varsity Eight will earn 3, 2, 1 points for first, second and third.

All ACC boat racing categories (V8, 2V8, V4, 2V4, 3V8) can score points for their team. To earn points, the boats must finish top three in their heat.

For the latest on Louisville Rowing, visit GoCards.com follow the team on X, Facebook and Instagram at LouisvilleROW.

University of Louisville Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Olivia Guarnaccia

Kaylie Leonard

Related Videos