April 4, 2013
WSU Heads South to Compete in the San Diego Crew Classic: The Washington State University women's rowing team, ranked 19th in the nation, returns to the water at the 2013 San Diego Crew Classic at San Diego's Mission Bay, Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7... the Cougars recently swept Gonzaga in their season-opening dual regatta, as this will be their first invitational of the year.
The 2013 San Diego Crew Classic: The 40th annual San Diego Crew Classic will begin Saturday, April 6 at 7:20 a.m....the regatta consists of over 100 races and 3,400 athletes throughout two days of competition...it takes place at Mission Bay on a 2,000 meter course...the course poses a unique twist, as it is on tidal waters with the tide fluctuating throughout the day...the San Diego Crew Classic consists of two or three opening heats for each event with the top two teams (for three-heat events) or three teams (for two-heat events) advancing to the Grand Final...the next two or three finishers (depending on the number of heats) will advance to the petite final if scheduled and, in the case of three-heat events, the following two finishers will compete in a third round race if scheduled...the Cougars will compete against some of the top college crews in the country this weekend, including nationally ranked Virginia (first in the country), California (second), USC (sixth), Washington (seventh), UCLA (ninth), and Wisconsin (14th)...the Cougars will compete in four events, the Women's Collegiate Varsity Invitational - the Jessop-Whittier Cup; the Women's Collegiate Varsity 4+ - Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup, Women's Collegiate 2V - Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy, and the Women's Collegiate Novice - Laurel Korholz Perpetual Trophy.
Last Time at the San Diego Crew Classic: Last season at the 2012 San Diego Crew Classic, the varsity four placed second in the Grand Final of the collegiate 4+ event, the race for the Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup; while WSU's novice eight placed fifth in the Grand Final, the battle for the Laurel V. Korholz Perpetual Trophy. The second varsity eight grabbed a first-place finish in its respective Petite Final, while the varsity eight placed second in the Petite Final of the Collegiate Varsity Invitational event.
WSU Head Coach Jane LaRiviere on the San Diego Crew Classic: "We hope to build on the race from Saturday. We had some parts that we were really pleased with and we had a lot of parts that we are really excited to get another crack at. Everybody wants to make the trip to San Diego, so the team in highly motivated right."
This Weekends Lineups: Varsity Eight - bow - Emily Starkel, Nicole Hare, Stephanie Hinkle, Ieva Adomaviciute, Mollie McCabe, Katie Dick, Allie Reilly, Kendall Boliba, coxswain - Emily Boquet. Second Varsity Eight - bow - Mickey Aylard, Carly Johnson, Erin Schuster, Hannah deVos, Jennifer Hale, Alison Smith, Kellen Srb, Elise Jones, coxswain - Rebecca Burns. Varsity Four - bow - Carter Marks, Megan McDonald, Samantha Hoeper, Gina Head, coxswain - Heidi Kim. Novice Eight - bow - Alex Backsen, Sarah Steger, Mallory Yost, Chloe Rogers, Regina Snider, Jordan Watson, Katrina Tarrant, Savannah Davidson, coxswain - Cassandra Evans.
Cougs Ranked 19th in USRowing/CRCA Poll: WSU is currently ranked 19th in the nation in the USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Division I Poll presented by Pocock Racing Shells...six of the Pac-12's seven rowing squads are ranked in the top-20 poll: Cal-second, Stanford-fifth, USC-sixth, Washington-seventh, UCLA-ninth, WSU-19th, and Oregon State is receiving 12 votes...Washington State finished sixth in the conference and ranked 17th at the end of 2012...the Cougars return five rowers from last season's varsity eight boat.
Coaching Staff: Jane LaRiviere is in her 11th year as head coach of the WSU women's rowing program...the Cougars have raced in six NCAA Championships under LaRiviere...she is joined by assistant Josh Adam, and novice coach Corrie McGrath...Adam is in his third year after coaching his prior two years at Indiana...McGrath is in her fifth year at WSU, after coaching stints at Clemson and Central Florida.