WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
Fourteenth-ranked Washington State University women's rowing will make its 10th overall, fourth-straight and sixth NCAA Championships appearance in seven years as it heads to Lake Natoma at Gold River, Calif., May 27-29 for the 2016 NCAA Rowing Championships...the Pac-12 Conference will serve as hosts for the event...Division I racing begins at 9 a.m. Friday with the varsity eight heats...please see page two of today's notes for the complete schedule.
THE FIELD:
WSU will compete against 21 other NCAA Division I teams, including four other Pac-12 squads...WSU's varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four have defeated three of the 21 other varsity eights that will compete for the national championship; Gonzaga, Central Florida (UCF) and Indiana...the Cougars have competed against eight other NCAA participants; California, Michigan, Ohio State, USC, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as seven of the eight of them are ranked in the top-10 in the nation...this season marks the fourth with an expanded field of 22 teams...eleven teams earned automatic bids, while the other 11 (including Washington State) were at-large selections.
EXPERIENCE AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The Cougars' NCAA roster features 18 student-athletes with experience at the NCAA Championships, including four with experience at least two championships...seven of the nine members of the varsity eight crew represented WSU last season at the 2015 Championships and five of the nine also competed at the 2014 NCAA Championships...senior coxswain Rebecca Burns will compete in her fourth NCAA Championships, as she's been to the championships each year on the team (varsity eight 2013, varsity four, 2014 & 2015), Mihaela-Teodora Berindei, Morgan Cathrea and Jordan Watson are competing as members of the varsity eight crew for the third-straight year, as each of the seniors competed in the boat at both the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Championships, while Kim Coon (varsity four, 2014; varsity eight, 2015) is also making her third appearance at the national championships...eight of the nine members are the second varsity eight crew have experience at the NCAA Championships, including one with two years of experience...those with experience from the second varsity eight include Isabella Watt (second varsity eight, 2014 & 2015), Jessie Howe (second varsity eight, 2015), Jenna Mangiagli (second varsity eight, 2015), Emily Morrow (second varsity eight, 2015), Chloe Rogers (second varsity eight, 2014), Sarah Steger (second varsity eight, 2015), Katrina Tarrant (varsity four, 2015) and Jessica Newson (spare, 2015)...Kortyna Lasaite will compete at the NCAAs for the first time after serving as a spare in 2015, while the rest of the varsity four crew will make their first trips to the championships, as will the two spares.
2016 PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The then-13th ranked Cougars notched their second-straight top-four finish as they placed fourth at the 2016 Pac-12 Rowing Championships, May 15, at Lake Natoma...the Cougars finished with 22.5 points, just a half a point ahead of then-No. 12 USC in fifth with 22 points...the third varsity eight had the best finish of the day in third, followed by the second varsity eight which placed fourth...the varsity eight and varsity four crews placed fifth in their respective heats...then-No. 2 California won its second-straight Pac-12 title with a total of 45 points, followed by then-No. 6 Stanford in second with 35 points.
PREVIOUSLY AT THE NCAAS:
The Cougars are making their 10th trip as a team to the NCAA Championships, their fourth-straight and sixth in seven years...they have reached the NCAA Championships as a team nine prior times and once as a varsity eight boat...WSU's best finish came in 2006 as it placed fourth, led by a fourth-place finish from the varsity eight...WSU matched its second-best finish last year, placing eighth at the 2015 NCAA Championships...the Cougars were 14th in both 2014 and 2013, 12th in 2011, 13th in 2010, eighth in 2008, fourth in 2006, ninth in 2004 and 12th in 2003...the varsity eight placed 13th in 2002...the Cougars' best individual boat finish came in 2004 when the second varsity eight took third.
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.
PAC-12 HIGHLY RANKED:
WSU is currently ranked 14th in the nation in the USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Division I Poll presented by Pocock Racing Shells...WSU is ranked for the 88th-consecutive week, dating back to March 11, 2008...six Pac-12 women's rowing teams are either ranked in the top-20 poll or receiving votes: California-first, Stanford-sixth, Washington-seventh, USC-13th and WSU-14th...UCLA is receiving votes...California received 23 of the 25 first-place votes.