Women’s rowing wraps up season

The WSU women’s rowing team finished its season June 1 with a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Rowing Championships in Indianapolis.

“We were very happy with our performance this year,” said Megan McDonald, the varsity eight stroke seat. “I felt like we gave it our all, and we’re proud with the results.”

The Cougar women finished 14th overall, while the second varsity eight finished 11th overall. Ohio State took first place.

Conditions were sunny and clear for the women rowers, much better than last year’s windy conditions that added a layer of difficulty to the competition.

The second varsity eight boat competed in the B finals against Pac-12 competitors UW and USC. It finished just behind UW but beat out USC to place fifth with a time of 7:10.070.

The other boats, the varsity four and the first varsity eight competed in the C finals on the last day of the championships. The varsity four finished first with a time of 7:36.126, four seconds ahead of second place. The first varsity eight finished third with a time of 6:52.636, just a tenth of a second behind San Diego State.

“After falling to Indiana and Harvard earlier this year, beating them in nationals was satisfying, and it really showed how much we’ve improved this year,” said Noel Christiansen, the six seat for the second varsity eight.

This is the team’s fourth NCAA appearance in the last five years and the second straight season the Cougar women’s team has placed 14th in the NCAA championships.

Next year the Pac-12 will host the championships at Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif., near Sacramento.