Oak Ridge, Tenn. ? Kansas University placed seventh of eight teams Saturday at the Conference USA Rowing Championship.

KU senior Meaghan Oven was honored at the regatta for making the 15-person 2011 C-USA All-Conference Team.

KU and the three other Big 12 rowing schools — Kansas State, Oklahoma and Texas — have joined Conference USA in rowing in anticipation of the NCAA’s introduction of automatic bids to the NCAA Rowing Championship in 2013.

A conference must contain at least six teams to be eligible for automatic-qualification to an NCAA championship.

The four Big 12 teams, along with Tennessee and Alabama from the Southeastern Conference, are now affiliate members of Conference USA in the sport of rowing, joining C-USA schools Tulsa, SMU and Central Florida.