Cardinals Claim Gold in All Four Events at SIRA Championship

Sunday, April 19

Oak Ridge, TN

University of Louisville

SIRA Championship

Cardinals Claim Gold in All Four Events at SIRA Championship

April 19, 2026 | Rowing

Louisville won the Varsity 8, Varsity 4, Second Varsity 8 and Novice 4 races on Sunday

By: Dana Brown

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – University of Louisville rowing is headed back from Oak Ridge, Tenn., with some hardware as the Varsity 8, Second Varsity 8, Varsity 4 A and Novice 4 boats all won their A Final races at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championship on Sunday.

"One of our goals was to win gold in more events at this regatta," said assistant coach Natalie Chourova. "The program achieved this goal by repeating its success from last year with gold in Novice 4, Second 8, First 8 and adding a win in the Varsity 4 this year. Big success for the program was also earning bronze in the Third 8, which competed in the 2V8 event. We did not have a Third Varsity 8 at this regatta last year, and bringing home bronze this year in the 2V8 event tells a lot about the development of our program."

"This weekend was a strong representation of who we are as a team," said captain Clara Jane Van Dyk. "Every boat went out there and showed up for each other. As a whole, we accomplished many things and showed that we are capable of much more. We are excited to get back to the boathouse and train for the upcoming weeks."

The Novice 4 boat of Ava Turner, Amelia Robinson, Claire Allie, Rhiannon Hockey and coxswain Kaylee Gallagher got the Cardinals started off on the right foot Sunday morning with a dominant victory in its lone event of the weekend. Louisville turned in a time of 7:42.151, besting the next boat by nearly 30 seconds, to claim victory.

Louisville kept the momentum going with the Varsity 4 Open A Final where the A boat finished first with a time of 7:28.873. The Cardinals' V4B boat finished fifth in the event, finishing in 7:47.981.

As noted previously, the Cards claimed both gold and bronze in the Second Varsity 8 Club & Open event as the 2V8 came across the line in 6:40.330 and the 3V8 finished in 6:55.521. The 3V8 boat that placed third was crewed by coxswain Madelyn Pleune, Alana Cureton, Graycen West, Kate Eisenbeis, Addison Sorrell, Bria Ragauckas, Lexi Schneider, Julia Shoemaker and Stella Scott.

"We knew it was going to be a fight Sunday morning," said Shoemaker. "We came in with grit and an underdog mentality, and we spoke a lot about attitude before our race. Our boat had a strong race, and knowing it would be our two seniors Kate (Eisenbeis) and Graycen (West)'s last race in Oak Ridge, we put it all out there on the course for them."

Wrapping up the day with a repeat strong showing was Louisville's Varsity 8 who won gold in its event with a time of 6:35.265. This is the second year in a row the Cards' V8 boat has won its A Final race.

"The team showed some decent racing this weekend," added Coach Chourova. "But we will need to continue finding more speed as we prepare for our biggest race before ACC Championships: the Lake Wheeler Invite."

Louisville has a quick turnaround for the Lake Wheeler Invitational which begins on Friday, April 24, in just five days.

Sunday Finals Results
Varsity 8 Open (A Final)
1 – Louisville (6:35.265); 2 – Jacksonville (6:45.819); 3 – Vanderbilt (6:48.863); 4 – Purdue (6:50.335); 5 – Duquesne (6:54.594); 6 – Kansas State (6:56.730)

Second Varsity 8+ Club & Open (A Final)
1 – Louisville 2V8 (6:40.330); 2 – Jacksonville (6:47.081); 3 – Louisville 3V8 (6:55.521); 4 – Duquesne (7:00.684); 5 – Kansas State (7:05.258); 6 – Stetson (7:10.860)

Varsity 4 Open (A Final)
1 – Louisville A (7:28.873); 2 – Kansas State (7:34.486); 3 – Jacksonville A (7:36.416); 4 – Duquesne (7:42.685); 5 – Louisville B (7:47.981); 6 – Jacksonville C (7:52.844); 7 – Barry (7:58.061)

Novice 4+ Open (A Final)
1 – Louisville (7:42.151); 2 – Kansas State (8:09.138); 3 – Jacksonville (8:20.168); 4 – Tampa (8:39.672); 5 – Toledo (8:40.384); 6 – Drake (8:40.410); 7 – UD (9:29.339)

Lineups
Varsity 8
Coxswain – Olivia Guarnaccia
8 – Macy Whisenand
7 – Claire Carver-Ritter
6 – Anna Brennan
5 – Haley Kunz
4 – Grace Rodebaugh
3 – Emma Bell
2 – Clara Jane Van Dyk
1 – Lexi Bernard

Second Varsity 8
Coxswain – Hannah Cease
8 – Mary Noschang
7 – Lauren Stedry
6 – Cierra Chavez
5 – Katherine Cromly
4 – Maya Lawrie
3 – Bradlie Hicks
2 – Jana Berelsmann
1 – Dorka Szabo

Third Varsity 8
Coxswain – Madelyn Pleune
8 – Alana Cureton
7 – Graycen West
6 – Kate Eisenbeis
5 – Addison Sorrell
4 – Bria Ragauckas
3 –Lexi Schneider
2 – Julia Shoemaker
1 – Stella Scott

Varsity 4A
4 – Angels Ventura Rodriguez
3 – Ellie Fazio
2 – Addie Clark
1 – Keira Krebs
Coxswain – Zoe Desserich

Varsity 4B
4 – Olivia Koproski
3 – Stella Mancini
2 – Claudia Smith
1 – Wilkey Smith
Coxswain – Victoria Grayson

Novice 4+
4 – Ava Turner
3 – Amelia Robinson
2 – Claire Allie
1 – Rhiannon Hockey
Coxswain – Kaylee Gallagher