Double duty

Daniel Rodriguez Evergreen Rowing reporter

After almost a month out of the water, Washington State University women’s rowing is back on the road to compete in back-to-back regattas. The team will first compete against Gonzaga at the Head of Spokane Regatta and then immediately travel to Portland, Ore., for the Portland Fall Classic Regatta Sunday where the Cougars will face their first Division-I teams of the season.

The team will launch three varsity eight boats, three varsity four boats, and two novice eight boats.

The first race is in a head format, where the boats start at intervals racing the clock and each other. The WSU team will try to repeat last year’s performance where the Cougars out-stroked Gonzaga’s varsity eight boat by four seconds finishing at a time of 19 minutes and 2 seconds. Even the Cougar’s second varsity eight and the fourth varsity eight boats finished ahead of Gonzaga’s second varsity eight with times of (19:07) and (20:30) respectively.

The Rose City Rowing Club and the Station L Rowing Club will host the Portland race, and the Cougars will face Oregon State, Oregon, University of Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark College, Seattle, Portland, Portland State, Willamette and also juniors, open and masters.

The Cougars will battle for first place again after an impressive performance last season. Last year the team took the win with a time of 17:23.16. In the final four, WSU finished in 19:15.24 defeating Oregon State, Willamette and Oregon. 

Head Coach Jane LaRiviere said the team has been preparing well after the extended time away from competition.

“I think we’re coming along nicely,” she said. “The last couple of weeks have been gorgeous, and people have settled down because I feel like they think their preparation is going better. The boats are starting to sort themselves out, and I’m pretty happy with the depth.”

The race tomorrow will take place at 9 a.m. at the Gonzaga Boathouse on a 5,000 meter stretch of the Spokane River.

After the first race, the Cougars will travel to the Willamette River in Portland to compete at the Portland Fall Classic.

The race Sunday will start at 8:30 a.m. and will also be in a head format through downtown Portland in a narrow river section with six bridges.

After the double header, WSU will close out the fall season Sunday, Nov. 3 in the rowing Apple Cup.