Kansas University rowing coach Rob Catloth knows looks can be deceiving.

To the common observer it may have appeared that his squad struggled in 2003, but the 10th-year coach said that’s hardly the case.

Sure, the Jayhawks were absent from the Top 25 rankings and didn’t log as many first-place finishes as in previous seasons, but Catloth said that simply was a case of KU’s region being the toughest in the nation.

Kansas hung on the cusp of the Top 25 all season and was vastly improved from a difficult 2003 season where the Jayhawks struggled in most races.

“We definitely would have been Top 30 last year,” said Catloth, the only coach in KU rowing history. “We had the fastest region by far. Of the 16 teams in the NCAA field, half of them were from our region.”

Catloth’s goal for the 2004-2005 season is to have his squad be one of those 16 teams competing at the NCAA Championships.

The Jayhawks lost veteran coxwains Sara Kilbride and Crystal Reed and six of their strongest oarswomen — Beth Olson, Beth Hickey, Laura Adamson, Casey Smith, Sarah Smith and Amber Snyder — to graduation, but Catloth said the team had enough experienced athletes returning that it should be competitive.

“We feel like we have the athletes to do it,” he said. “The last two years we’ve had pretty good freshman classes so we have a good group coming up.”

The area KU needs to improve the most, Catloth said, is with its First Varsity 8 boat.

The Jayhawks missed out on the First Varsity 8 Grand Final at regionals last year and had to settle for sixth in the First Varsity 8 Petite Final.

The NCAA ranks teams based on the First 8, and Kansas has some catching up to do with the rest of the region.

Three of KU’s top oarswomen return from the First Varsity 8 — seniors Erin Hennessey, Kristy Hainer and junior Jennifer Ebel.

“They’ll be leading our top guns,” Catloth said. “Kristy was our second-fastest last year behind Beth Olson, and Erin Hennessey was our third-fastest, so they’ll move up and be one-two for us. Then, we have a good young group behind them.”

The Jayhawks will spend most of the nontraditional fall season racing smaller boats in order to work on speed and strength training, Catloth said.

Then the spring season will again be highlighted by a dual with the University of Texas, another trip to the Knecht Cup in Camden, N.J., the Kansas Cup and the Big 12 Conference Championships.

–Sports reporter Chris Wristen can be reached at 832-7147.