Sept. 29, 2012
PRIEST RIVER, Idaho - The Washington State University women's rowing team put together a strong showing at its first regatta of the season, the Head of the Pend Oreille, Saturday afternoon under beautiful conditions featuring 80 degree weather and calm water. The Cougars raced four varsity four boats and two varsity eight boats, notching the top times in each category.
"We are starting the season off in the right direction." WSU Head Coach Jane LaRiviere said. "It was a really fun regatta with amazing community support. It was a very festive atmosphere."
In the varsity four flight, which featured rowers from the Cougar's first and second varsity eight boats split into boats of four, WSU captured the top four spots amongst collegiate women. The A boat (Nicole Hare, Mollie McCabe, Katie Dick, Kerry Hassall - stroke and Heidi Kim - coxswain) had the top time at 20:10, followed by the D boat (Megan McDonald, Stephanie Hinkle, Elise Jones, Mickey Aylard - stroke and Sarah Wu - coxswain) at 20:18, the C boat (Jennifer Hale, Jordan Watson, Kellen Srb, Kendall Boliba - stroke and Rebecca Burns - coxswain) at 20:28 and the B boat (Emily Starkel, Alison Smith, Alex Waddell, Noel Christiansen - stroke and Emily Boquet - coxswain) at 20:32. Gonzaga raced an A and B boat, finishing fifth and sixth with times of 22:00 and 22:06, respectively.
WSU's times improved by at least 58 seconds from last year's regatta and each of the Cougars' boats were within 30 seconds of each other, compared to last season when the boats were as much as a minute apart at the finish.
In the earlier race, the WSU varsity eight A boat (Carter Marks, Sarah Steger, Ashlee Bonahoom, Krista Lizardi, Liana DeMaris, Alyssa Rumann, Samantha Hoeper, Gina Head and Raeanne Marks - coxswain), took first with a time of 19:02, seven seconds ahead of Gonzaga's A boat in second at 19:09. The varsity eight B boat (Katelyn Maley, Chloe Payne, Julia Monroe, Hannah Jacobs, Brianne Gould, Erin Ranney, Courtney Hammer, Ella Odland and Lauren Leahy - coxswain) finished in a time of 19:37, followed by Gonzaga's B crew at 20:50.
Washington State returns to the water for fall competition, Saturday, Oct. 20 for the Head of the Spokane hosted by Gonzaga in Spokane.
Head of the Pend Oreille
Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012
Results
Varsity Fours Flight
1. Washington State A, 20:10
2. Washington State D, 20:18
3. Washington State C, 20:28
4. Washington State B, 20:32
5. Gonzaga A, 22:00
6. Gonzaga B, 22:06
Varsity Eights Flight
1. Washington State A, 19:02
2. Gonzaga A, 19:09
3. Washington State B, 19:37
4. Gonzaga B, 20:50
