Cougar Rowing Heads to San Diego: No. 11 Washington State rowing travels south to compete at the 2016 San Diego Crew Classic Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3 at San Diego's Mission Bay.
The 2016 San Diego Crew Classic: The 2016 San Diego Crew Classic begins at 7:20 a.m. Saturday, April 2...this weekend marks the 43rd year of the regatta...it is one of the largest regattas in the world held for primarily eight-oared rowing shells...it takes place at Mission Bay on a 2,000 meter course...the course begins near the Sea World towers and finishes at Crown Point Shore...the regatta features high school junior programs, collegiate teams, master's clubs, and Olympic-level competition...there will be more than 4,000 athletes competing in over 100 races over the weekend...there are two or three opening heats for each event and the top three teams (for two-heat events) or two teams (for three-heat events) will advance to the Grand Final...for two heat events, the next three finishers advance to the Petite Final if scheduled...for three heat events, the next two finishers advance to the Petite Final if scheduled and the following two finishers advance to the Third Final if scheduled...the Cougars will face some of the premiere college crews in the country including nationally ranked California (second), USC (14th), and UCLA (20th)...WSU will compete in the Women's Collegiate Varsity Invitational - Jessop-Whittier Cup; the Women's Collegiate Varsity 4+ - Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup; the 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: Washington State last competed at the San Diego Crew Classic in 2014…in the Women's Collegiate Varsity Invitational Grand Final, WSU's varsity eight finished in 6:48.57 and took third behind fellow Pac-12 competitors USC and Washington…the Cougar women's varsity four finished the 2,000-meter course in 7:46.55 and took fourth place in the Women's Collegiate Varsity Four Grand Final…WSU's second varsity eight also placed fourth, with a time 6:55.74, in the Women's Collegiate Second Varsity Grand Final…Washington State's novice eight finished sixth in the Women's Collegiate Novice Grand Final with a time of 7:55.55.
WSU Head Coach Jane LaRiviere on the San Diego Crew Classic: “We are really excited for the sandy beaches and palm trees. Hopefully we have better weather down in San Diego. The wind has been up significantly in the past few weeks, so we are getting a lot of rough water training. We are excited to get into San Diego and see some sunshine. Everything happens for a reason, we have to keep our heads down and keep working. It is so early in the season, we are all systems go from our end.”
Cougars Ranked 11th in USRowing/CRCA Poll: WSU is currently ranked 11th in the nation in the USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Division I Poll presented by Pocock Racing Shells...Washington State checks in at No. 11 after coming in at ninth in the preseason poll...WSU is ranked for the 81st-consecutive week, dating back to March 11, 2008...six Pac-12 women's rowing teams are ranked in the top-20 poll: California-second, Stanford-sixth, Washington-eighth, WSU-11th, USC-14th, and UCLA-20th...California received five first-place votes.
Coaching Staff: Jane LaRiviere is in her 14th year as head coach of the WSU women's rowing program...LaRiviere led the Cougars to their 10th NCAA Championship appearance in program history last season and fifth in six years...she is joined by associate head coach Josh Adam, assistant/novice coach Karl Huhta, coordinator of operations Sam Hoeper and graduate assistant Brandon Campbell...Adam is in his sixth year after coaching his prior two years at Indiana...Huhta is in his second year at WSU and fourth year overall, he spent last season as the coordinator of operations after being a volunteer coach in 2009-10…Hoeper enters her first season as the coordinator of operations after rowing at Washington State from 2010-13…Campbell enters his first season as a graduate assistant after graduating from Brock University in 2015…the coaching staff was named the CRCA West Regional Staff of the Year in 2015.
Next up for the Cougars: The Cougars will next compete against cross-state rival Washington Saturday, April 9, at Seattle.