Cougars Host Beavers Saturday: The No. 13 Washington State women's rowing team hosts its only home regatta of the season against Oregon State Saturday, April 30, at Wawawai Landing.
The Oregon State Dual: Washington State and Oregon State will race over a 2,000-meter course at Wawawai Landing...racing begins at 9 a.m., with the second varsity four heat...the varsity four race at 9:15 a.m., followed by the second varsity eight heat at 9:30 a.m...at 9:45 a.m., the varsity eight crews will battle...the regatta concludes with the third varsity eight crews race at 10 a.m.
This Season's Meetings: The regatta marks the second meeting of the season between WSU and OSU…Washington State finished ahead of Oregon State in three seven-team heats during the second session of the Clemson Invite...the Cougar varsity eight, second varsity eight, and varsity four all finished ahead of OSU in the Saturday afternoon heats…WSU's varsity eight finished the heat in second, followed by OSU which finished in third, five seconds behind the Cougars…the Cougars' second varsity eight took second, finishing the race 12 seconds ahead of the sixth-place Beavers…Washington State's varsity four finished third, 18 seconds faster than OSU which came in sixth.
Last Year Against Oregon State: Last year, Washington State competed against Oregon State at Dexter Lake…the Cougars won each of their five races against Oregon State and won their sixth-consecutive Winchell Cup…Washington State's varsity eight crossed the line in 6:36.36, followed by Oregon State (6:52.63)…with the victory over OSU, WSU secured the Crawford Perpetual Plate…WSU's second varsity eight finished in 6:46.38, 13 seconds ahead of the Beavers (6:59.52)…Washington State's varsity four crossed the finish line in 7:32.34, 35 seconds before the Beavers (8:07.06)…in the second varsity four heat, WSU finished in 7:57.23, well ahead of Oregon State which crossed at 8:42.54…the Cougars third varsity eight A crew out-stroked the field finishing in 6:56.80, followed by Oregon State at 7:09.22 and WSU's B crew which crossed in 7:42.82.
WSU Head Coach Jane LaRiviere On The Oregon State Dual: “We just came off of five-straight weeks of traveling, so it has been great to sleep in our own beds and not have the extra travel. It was very welcomed and now we are ready to get back out there. Oregon State is a Pac-12 institution, and every time you race a member of the Pac-12 it is hard. Two years ago when Oregon State was here it was a photo finish and we declared it a draw. Anything can happen, as we are still searching for our top speed and they are still searching for their top speed. You just cannot overlook anybody, so I anticipate it will be a good fight. We have started doing some rate work and we know what we want to improve from the last time we raced on Sunday in Clemson. This is the final tune-up before the Pac-12 Championships, so we want to execute in as many dynamics of the race as possible.”
Cougars Ranked 13th in USRowing/CRCA Poll: WSU is currently ranked 13th 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. 13 after coming in at ninth in the preseason poll...WSU is ranked for the 85th-consecutive week, dating back to March 11, 2008...six Pac-12 women's rowing teams are ranked in the top-20 poll: California-first, Washington-fifth, Stanford-sixth, USC-12th, WSU-13th and UCLA-20th...California received 20 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.
Directions to Wawawai Landing: From Highway 195 (North or South), turn west on Wawawai Road at the blinking yellow light...travel on Wawawai Road for 10 miles, the road will end at a stop sign...turn right and drive six miles down into the canyon...go past the county park on the right and over the railroad tracks...the boathouse is a cinderblock building on the right...park on the side of the road or in the parking lot south of the boathouse.
Next for the Cougars: The Washington State women's rowing team travels to Gold River, Calif. Sunday, May 15, to compete at the Pac-12 Championships.