WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – Competing in it its fifth-straight NCAA Championships, the Washington State rowing team finished 14th as a team, Sunday, on the final day of the 2017 NCAA Rowing Championships held at Mercer Lake under partly cloudy and foggy, but calm conditions.

All three boats advanced to the C final after preliminary and semifinal racing Friday and Saturday, as places 13-18 were on the line Sunday in the C final. The varsity eight had the best finish for the Cougars winning its C Final to place 13th overall in the event for 30 points. The second varsity eight finished second in their C final to place 14th overall for 18 points, while the varsity four finished third in their C Final to finish 15th overall for 8 points. 

"Conditions were tricky Friday, there was a stiff tailwind, and our crews had a hard time figuring out how to race in it," WSU head coach Jane LaRiviere said. "But with each race, all the boats got faster. I think for the most part we had our best races at the end of the season, and we like to see that we're finishing on a strong note."

Washington became the first program in the 21-year history of the NCAA Rowing Championships to sweep all three races to win the national championship for the fourth time in school history and first time since 2001 with 132 points. The win marked the 500th all-time NCAA Championship for the Pac-12, becoming the first conference to reach that milestone.

The Cougars finished with 56 points, just four behind Syracuse in 13th and two ahead of Iowa in 15th. WSU entered the championships ranked 15th in the country, seeded 10th in the varsity eight, 16th in the second varsity eight and 12th in the varsity four. The Pac-12 was well-represented as, not only did Washington win, but California was second and Stanford sixth. The conference swept the varsity eight race as Washington got first, Stanford second and California third. 

In the final WSU race of the day, the Cougars' varsity eight (coxswain-Jenna Mangiagli, stroke-Emily Morrow, Mihaela-Teodora Berindei, Ieva Adomaviciute, Lucie Weissova, Nicole Hare, Isabella Watt, Kristel Tohu, bow-Paige Danielson) battled in the C final against Syracuse, Iowa, Notre Dame, Northeastern and UCF. The Cougars raced out to third in their heat behind Iowa in first and Syracuse in second. The Cougars were able to pass Syracuse by the 500-meter mark and continued to gain on Iowa. By the1,500-meter mark, the Cougars were just 0.56 seconds behind the Hawkeyes. WSU continued to turn it on and passed Iowa to go onto a one and a half second victory with a time of 6:36.394, followed by Iowa at 6:38.037. Syracuse was third, followed by Notre Dame, Northeastern and UCF. 

The second race of the day was the second varsity eight race. The Cougar crew (coxswain-Ellie Burg, stroke-Jenna Kennedy, Taija Thompson, Emily Thomson, Ivy Elling Quaintance, Chloe Rogers, Lori VerMurlen, Jessi Howe, bow-Renee Kemp) also got out to a slow start, battling for fifth early, while falling to sixth at the 1,000-meter mark. The Cougars began to row their way back into the race, moving into second by the 1,500-meter mark. WSU couldn't catch Indiana which went on to win with a time of 6:46.939, as WSU crossed the finish line second with a time of 6:48.895. Iowa was third, followed by Northeastern, Notre Dame and UCF, respectively.

In the first race of the morning for Washington State, the varsity four crew (coxswain-Mikaelyn Davis, stroke-Kamila Ondrackova, Sue Yu, Rosalina Torcivia, bow-Brittany Brooks) took to the water, racing out of lane six in the C final. WSU got off to a slow start, quickly sitting in sixth out of six. Brown jumped out to a quick lead and no one came close as they ran away with the victory for a 13th-place finish overall. The Cougars began to make a move at the 500-meter mark, moving into fourth at the 1,000-meter mark. WSU continued to challenge Indiana and Notre Dame in places second and third, moving into second at the 1,500-meter mark. Indiana used a sprint in the final 500 to pull ahead of WSU and the Cougars held off Indiana to finish third in their heat, 15th overall, with a time of 7:38.378. Notre Dame was right behind at 7:38.378, while second-place Indiana had a time of 7:37.095.

This wraps up the 2017 rowing season, as LaRiviere led Washington State to its 11th NCAA Championship in her 15-year tenure. 

2017 NCAA ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mercer Lake – West Windsor, N.J.
May 26-28, 2017
Sunday, May 28 – Day Three

Final Team Standings
1. Washington – 132
2. California – 123
3. Michigan – 112
4. Texas – 108
5. Ohio State – 106
6. Stanford – 105
7. Yale – 96
8. Brown – 91
9. Wisconsin – 86
10. Princeton – 85
11. Virginia – 74
12. Indiana – 62
13. Syracuse – 60
14. Washington State – 56
15. Iowa – 54
16. Notre Dame – 40
17. Northeastern – 38
18. UCF – 28
19. Gonzaga – 25
20. Navy – 16
21. Massachusetts – 15
22. Jacksonville – 6 

Division I Eights
C Final (places 13-18 (Points)
13. Washington State, 6:36.394 (30)
14. Iowa, 6:38.037 (27)
15. Syracuse, 6:39.784 (24)
16. Notre Dame, 6:39.995 (21)
17. Northeastern, 6:42.570 (18)
18. UCF, 6:48.449 (15)

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
C Final (Places 13-18) (Points)
13. Indiana, 6:46.939 (20)
14. Washington State, 6:48.895 (18)
15. Iowa, 6:50.969 (16)
16. Northeastern, 6:55.684 (14)
17. Notre Dame, 6:55.689 (12)
18. UCF, 7:00.282 (10)

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
C Final (Places 13-18) (Points)
13. Brown, 7:32.538 (10)
14. Indiana, 7:37.095 (9)
15. Washington State, 7:38.378 (8)
16. Notre Dame, 7:38.465 (7) 
17. Northeastern, 7:40.798 (6)
18. Gonzaga, 7:40.988 (5)

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