WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – Battling tailwinds and rough water throughout the day, all three of No. 15 Washington State University rowing's boats advanced to the C/D semifinals after two sessions of rowing Friday, at the 2017 NCAA Championships held at Mercer Lake.

The first day of competition consisted of morning heats and then afternoon Repechage heats. In the four morning heats, the top two teams advanced directly to the A/B semifinals, while the rest returned in the afternoon to race in the Repechage heats, meaning 'second chance'. The top two of those two heats moved on to the A/B semifinals while the rest moved to the C/D semifinals. The afternoon session was delayed an hour due to windy conditions.

In the morning session, WSU entered the varsity eight race seeded 10th, facing second-seeded California, seventh-seeded Michigan, 15th-seeded Iowa and 18th-seeded Gonzaga. The Cougars (coxswain-Jenna Mangiagli, stroke-Emily Morrow, Mihaela-Teodora Berindei, Ieva Adomaviciute, Lucie Weissova, Nicole Hare, Isabella Watt, Kristel Tohu,bow-Paige Danielson) fell into fourth early and remained there, holding off Gonzaga for fourth with a time of 6:20.620. Michigan won in a time of 6:11.950, advancing to the A/B semifinals along with second-place California.

WSU's varsity eight returned in the afternoon to face 16th-seeded Wisconsin, 11th-seeded Indiana, 13th Notre Dame, 17th UCF and 21st Massachusetts in the first heat of the Repechage. WSU once again fell into fourth early, but this time clawed its way back, passing UCF while holding off Notre Dame. The Cougars ran out of time and couldn't pull ahead of Indiana, finishing third with a time of 6:20.020, two and a half seconds behind Indiana. Indiana advanced to the A/B semifinals along with Wisconsin, which won the heat.

In the second varsity eight morning session, WSU entered the race seeded 16th. Despite jumping out to a fourth-place start, the Cougars (coxswain-Ellie Burg, stroke-Jenna Kennedy, Taija Thompson, Emily Thomson, Ivy Elling Quaintance, Chloe Rogers, Lori VerMurlen, Jessi Howe, bow-Renee Kemp) fell behind 17th-seeded Gonzaga by the 1,000-meter mark and couldn't recover, finishing fifth with a time of 6:32.122. Top-seeded Washington won the race, followed by ninth-seeded Wisconsin and eight-seeded Yale in third. Washington and Wisconsin advanced.

The Cougars looked for redemption in their second chance heat, going up against Yale once again, sixth-seeded Princeton, 15th-seeded Indiana, 21st-seeded UCF and 13th-seeded Iowa. WSU fell behind early, trailing everyone at the 1,000-meter mark. WSU recovered and began a comeback, surging ahead of Iowa and UCF to place fourth with a time of 6:31.759. Yale and Princeton advanced to the A/B semifinal and were followed by Indiana in third. 

Washington State came into the varsity four event seeded 12th and was pitted against fourth-seeded Ohio State, fifth-seeded Yale, 20th-seeded Northeastern, 13th-seeded Gonzaga and 21st-seeded Massachusetts in the fourth heat. The Cougars (coxswain-Mikaelyn Davis Davis, stroke-Kamila Ondrackova, Sue Yu, Rosalina Torcivia, bow-Brittany Brooks) got out of the gates fourth and remained there throughout the race to finish fourth in a time of 7:27.508. Ohio State and Yale advanced, finishing first and second, respectively.
In the afternoon Repechage, the Cougars were up against 16th-seeded Iowa, eighth-seeded Virginia, seventh-seeded Brown, 14th-seeded Indiana, 19th-seeded Navy and Massachusetts. The Cougars got faster as the race went on and went on to finish fifth with a time of 7:17.926. Iowa and Virginia finished first and second, respectively, to advance to the A/B semifinals.

All three boats will race in their respective C/D semifinals Saturday to determine seeding for Sunday's final races. The varsity eight begins the day in the first heat at 5:12 a.m. PT/8:12 a.m. ET The second varsity eight will be in the second heat at 6:12 a.m. PT/9:12 a.m. ET, while the varsity four will begin at 6:48 a.m. PT/9:48 a.m. ET in the first heat. 

2017 NCAA ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mercer Lake – West Windsor, N.J.
May 26-28, 2016
Friday, May 26 – Day One

Division I Eights
Heat Two
1.    Michigan, 6:11.950
2.    California, 6:14.010
3.    Iowa, 6:15.900
4.    Washington State, 6:20.620
5.    Gonzaga, 6:22.306

Repechage I
1.    Wisconsin, 6:15.523
2.    Indiana, 6:17.857
3.    Washington State, 6:20.020
4.    Notre Dame, 6:24.543
5.    UCF, 6:29.853
6.    Massachusetts, 6:35.877

Washington State Varsity Eight Lineup
coxswain-Jenna Mangiagli 
stroke-Emily Morrow
7-Mihaela-Teodora Berindei
6-Ieva Adomaviciute
5-Lucie Weissova
4-Nicole Hare
3-Isabella Watt
2-Kristel Tohu
bow-Paige Danielson

Division I Second Varsity Eights
Heat One
1.    Washington, 6:14.959
2.    Wisconsin, 6:19.832
3.    Yale, 6:20.882
4.    Gonzaga, 6:30.939
5.    Washington State, 6:32.122

Repechage I
1.    Yale, 6:22.215
2.    Princeton, 6:24.135
3.    Indiana, 6:25.015
4.    Washington State, 6:31.759
5.    UCF, 6:33.289
6.    Iowa, 6:35.97
7.    Jacksonville, 7:08.03

Washington State Second Varsity Eight Lineup 
coxswain-Ellie Burg
stroke-Jenna Kennedy
7-Taija Thompson
6-Emily Thomson
5-Ivy Elling Quaintance
4-Chloe Rogers
3-Lori VerMurlen
2-Jessi Howe
bow-Renee Kemp

Division I Varsity Fours
Heat Four
1.     Ohio State, 7:02.352
2.    Yale, 7:11.875
3.    Northeastern, 7:20.452
4.    Washington State, 7:27.508
5.    Gonzaga, 7:28.072
6.    Massachusetts, 7:48.472

Repechage I
1.    Iowa, 7:07.546
2.    Virginia, 7:08.879
3.    Brown, 7:09.566
4.    Indiana, 7:15.962
5.    Washington State, 7:17.926
6.    Navy, 7:37.806
7.    Massachusetts, 7:44.859

Washington State Varsity Four Lineup
coxswain-Mikaelyn Davis
4-Kamila Ondrackova
3-Sue Yu
2-Rosalina Torcivia
bow-Brittany Brooks