Rowers have solid Day 1 in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY - XULA rowing's regular season began with a busy Saturday at the Head of the Oklahoma Regatta.

All told, Xavier was represented in seven events. The Boathouse District along the Oklahoma River is one of the most unique rowing venues in the United States, and its full lighting meant student-athletes were able to compete from early in the morning until well after dark.

And compete the XULA rowers did.

Kamryn Days was the first Xavier athlete on the water Saturday morning, and placed 4th in the women's open lightweight 1t event in a time of 23:06.992. After the sun set, Days picked up a third-place finish in the 1x 500-meter Grand Final with a time of 02:16.799.

Next up was the four-woman team of Jyale Gates, Malaya Tyler, Kacelyn Jones, and Laila Murchison (coxswain), who placed 12th in the Novice/Frosh 4x race with a 25:03.269 effort.

A pair of teams represented Xavier in the Women's Open 2x, with Taylor Kentish and Diamond Smith finishing 16th in a time of 22:27.565 and Vasha Marshall and Alana Sankey finishing 17th in a time of 26:50.191.

Smith, Kentish, Days, and Murchison later finished 1th in the Women's Collegiate 4+ in a time of 20:56.095.

Kentish and Smith ended the first day of racing just before 9 p.m., and showed the quality that XULA Rowing is developing, finishing second in the Women's Open 2x 500m Grand Final in a time of 02:08.424.

On the men's side, Mekhi Akonner, Xavier's lone male representative, rowed twice on Saturday. He took sixth in the Collegiate 1x with a time of 22:05.223.

The Head of the Oklahoma brings together hundreds of rowers from clubs across the United States and Mexico. On Saturday, Xavier student-athletes shared the water with young women and men from universities like Baylor, Kansas State, Colorado State, Oklahoma, Colorado, Oklahoma State, TCU, and Wichita State.

XULA was the only team from Louisiana to participate in the event.

The regatta concludes on Sunday. Results from the various events in which XULA is participating will be available on the Regatta Central website.

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Kentish: Junior

Kamryn Days: Senior

Vasha Marshall: Junior

Laila Murchison: Freshman

Jyale Gates: Freshman

Malaya Tyler: Freshman

Kacelyn Jones: Freshman

Diamond Smith: Junior

Mekhi Akonner: Freshman

Alana Sankey: Junior

Players Mentioned

Taylor Kentish
: Junior

Kamryn Days
: Senior

Vasha Marshall
: Junior

Laila Murchison
: Freshman

Jyale Gates
: Freshman

Malaya Tyler
: Freshman

Kacelyn Jones
: Freshman

Diamond Smith
: Junior

Mekhi Akonner
: Freshman

Alana Sankey
: Junior