SARASOTA, Fla. – No. 17 Washington State rowing's varsity four won its Repechage heat to move on to the A/B semifinals, while the varsity eight and second varsity eight moved on to their respective C/D semifinals, Friday, at the 2018 NCAA Championships held at Nathan Benderson Park.

The first day of competition consisted of morning heats and then afternoon Repechage heats. In the four morning heats, the top two teams advanced directly to the A/B semifinals, while the rest returned in the afternoon to race in the Repechage heats, meaning 'second chance'. The top two of those two heats moved on to the A/B semifinals while the rest moved to the C/D semifinals. The afternoon session was delayed three hours due to lightening in the area.

Washington State came into the varsity four event seeded 12th and was pitted against fourth-seeded Virginia, fifth-seeded Texas, 13th-seeded Princeton, 20th-seeded Northeastern, and 21st-seeded Rhode Island in the fourth heat. The Cougars (coxswain-Chloe White, Jenna Kennedy, Sue Renee Kemp, Grace Arnis, bow-Sophia Rogers) got off to a slow start and fell into fourth with Princeton two-seconds ahead at the first 1,000 meters. The Cougars recovered and caught up to Princeton by the 1,500, staying there to finish third in a time of 7:28.272, 5 seconds ahead of fourth-place Princeton (7:33.610). Texas won the heat in a time of 7:13.275 to advance to the A/B semifinals along with second-place Virginia (7:14.402).

In the Repechage, the Cougars were up against 19th-seeded Navy, No. 17 seeded USC, 10-seeded Wisconsin, the No. 14 seed, Iowa, 18th-seeded UCF and the 21st seed, Rhode Island. Iowa jumped out to a big lead early, followed by Wisconsin, Washington State and Navy all within a second of each other. The Cougars were in third at the 1,000-meter mark as Iowa continued with a 4-second lead. WSU made its move before the 1,500-meter mark, nearing Wisconsin in third. In the final 500 meters, the Cougars used a big push to pass the field and finish first by 2 seconds with a time of 7:07.393. Iowa will join WSU in the A/B semifinals after finishing second in a time of 7:09.427. Wisconsin was third at 7:11.428.

In the morning session, WSU entered the varsity eight race seeded 15th, facing second-seeded Stanford, seventh-seeded Iowa, 10th-seeded USC and 18th-seeded Navy. The Cougars (coxswain-Jenna Mangiagli, stroke- Emily Morrow, Jess Brougham, Lisa Gutfleisch, Lucie Weissova, Kamila Ondrackova, Ivy Elling Quaintance, Kristel Tohu, bow-Paige Danielson) jumped into fourth early and remained there, as all five teams held their places throughout the race. The Cougars finished fourth with a time of 6:35.007, less than four seconds behind No. 13 USC in third (6:31.152). No. 5 Stanford won the heat in a time of 6:22.739, followed by No. 10 Iowa in at 6:26.997. Stanford and Iowa advanced directly to the A/B semifinals, while the other three went on to the afternoon Repechage heats.

WSU's varsity eight returned in the afternoon to face the No. 20 seed UCF, ninth-seeded Yale, 11th-seeded Virginia, 12th-seeded Wisconsin, 17th-seeded Gonzaga and the No. 22 seed Jacksonville. Yale jumped out to the early lead with Virginia right behind it and Wisconsin and Washington State following. At the first 500 meters, the Cougars trailed the Badgers by just one second, but the lead became as much as 1.5 seconds before Wisconsin crossed the line in third (6:18.989), less than a second ahead of WSU in a time of 6:19.642. Gonzaga was four seconds behind WSU in fifth at 6:23.654. Virginia and Yale advanced to the A/B semifinals with times of 8:12.819 and 6:14.307, respectively.

In the second varsity eight morning session, WSU entered the race also seeded 15th. Just like in the varsity eight race, all five crews held their positions throughout the race, as the Cougars (coxswain-Ellie Burg, stroke- Emily Thomson, Taija Thompson, Emma Gribbon, Jessica Norris, Rosalina Torcivia, Kateryna Maistrenko, Colombe de Rouvroy, bow-Jasmine Brake) started and finished fourth with a time of 6:42.515. Second-seeded California won the heat with a time of 6:31.505, followed by the No. 7 seed, Stanford (6:33.335) and 10th-seeded Wisconsin (6:40.163) in third. Gonzaga finished 14 seconds behind Washington State in fifth at 6:56.296. Cal and Stanford advanced directly to the A/B semis. 

The Cougars looked for redemption in their second chance heat, going up against No. 20 seed Navy, 13th-seeded Brown, the No. 11 seed Princeton, ninth-seeded USC, 17th-seeded Northeastern and the 22nd seed Jacksonville. WSU came out strong early, hanging tight with Princeton, Brown and USC through the first 1,000 meters. The Cougars began to fall back and ended the race 6 seconds behind USC to finish fourth with a time of 6:27.755. USC had a time of 6:21.275. Princeton and Brown advanced to the A/B semifinals with times of 6:19.897 and 6:20.550, respectively.

Due to inclement weather in the forecast, Saturday's schedule has been adjusted. The WSU varsity four will start the day for the Cougars with the second A/B semifinal at 8:10 a.m. ET. The varsity eight and second varsity eight will compete in their respective C/D semifinals Saturday, with the varsity eight going at 9:22 a.m. and the second varsity eight at 9:39 ET. The weather has also affected the finals session, as it has been moved from Sunday morning to Saturday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m. ET.

2018 NCAA ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Nathan Benderson Park – Sarasota, Fla.
May 25-27, 2018
Friday, May 25 – Day One

Division I Eights
Heat Two
1.    Stanford, 6:22.739
2.    Iowa, 6:26.997
3.    USC, 6:31.152
4.    Washington State, 6:35.007
5.    Navy, 6:50.042

Repechage I
1.    Virginia, 6:12.819
2.    Yale, 6:14.307
3.    Wisconsin, 6:18.989
4.    Washington State, 6:19.642
5.    Gonzaga, 6:23.654
6.    UCF, 6:25.209
7.    Jacksonville, 6:46.649

Washington State Varsity Eight Lineup
coxswain-Jenna Mangiagli 
stroke- Emily Morrow
7-Jess Brougham 
6- Lisa Gutfleisch 
5-Lucie Weissova
4- Kamila Ondrackova 
3- Ivy Elling Quaintance 
2- Kristel Tohu 
bow- Paige Danielson 

Division I Second Varsity Eights
Heat Two
1.    California, 6:31.505
2.    Stanford, 6:33.335
3.    Wisconsin, 6:40.365
4.    Washington State, 6:42.515
5.    Gonzaga, 6:56.296

Repechage I
1.    Princeton, 6:19.897
2.    Brown, 6:20.550
3.    USC, 6:21.275
4.    Washington State, 6:27.755
5.    Northeastern, 6:36.107
6.    Navy, 6:46.977
7.    Jacksonville, 7:04.501

Washington State Second Varsity Eight Lineup 
coxswain- Ellie Burg 
stroke- Emily Thomson 
7-Taija Thompson 
6- Emma Gribbon 
5- Jessica Norris 
4- Rosalina Torcivia 
3- Kateryna Maistrenko 
2- Colombe de Rouvroy 
bow-Jasmine Brake

Division I Varsity Fours
Heat Four
1.     Texas, 7:13.275
2.    Virginia, 7:34.402
3.    Washington State, 7:28.272
4.    Princeton, 7:33.610
5.    Northestern, 7:47.837
6.    Rhode Island, 8:04.225

Repechage 2
1.    Washington State, 7:07.393
2.    Iowa, 7:09.427
3.    Wisconsin, 7:11.428
4.    Navy, 7:13.933
5.    USC, 7:20.463
6.    UCF, 7:26.835
7.    Rhode Island, 7:47.913

Washington State Varsity Four Lineup
coxswain-Chloe White
4- Jenna Kennedy 
3- Renee Kemp 
2-Grace Arnis 
bow-Sophia Rogers