The fall has been a relaxed season for the Kansas rowing team the last few years. But not this autumn.

After failing to finish in the top 25 rankings for the first time in four years, coach Rob Catloth has prescribed rowing this fall in addition to the spring, the official competitive season for the sport.

“I think they’re excited about getting back out there,” Catloth said. “We have a group of experienced juniors and seniors coming back so we’ll have a good shot to get back to where we were at.”

Catloth blames youth and inexperience for last year’s slippage. The Jayhawks were OK in varsity four competition, but struggled in varsity eight races.

“The No. 4 boat had an outstanding year last season,” Catloth said. “Unfortunately, our top two boats weren’t quite as strong as they’ve been in the past.”

This year will hopefully be better.

“I’m really excited,” senior captain Jen Van Ruyven said. “We were pretty inexperienced last year, but a lot of us got a bunch of time on the water and gained that valuable experience.”

Van Ruyven thinks the fall competition will be a stepping stone toward improvement.

“We’ve kind of paced ourselves in the past during the early season, but I think going in there with an attitude like that of the spring will just make us stronger,” Van Ruyven said.

Catloth is also looking for leadership from Erin Harrington, Beth Hickey and Casey Smith.

The Jayhawks tied for eighth last season in the NCAA Central regionals against several of the best teams in the Midwest.

Now Catloth says his team is poised to get back into the rankings.

“I really thought we’d do it last year,” he said. “But as the year progressed I realized we weren’t quite as experienced as I thought we were. But this year we should be right back near the top.”