Trifecta for Cougar rowing

WSU+crew+team+rows+during+a+practice+on+the+Snake+River%2C+March+31.

WSU crew team rows during a practice on the Snake River, March 31.

From staff reports

Even with a 20 mph crosswind as a hurdle, the Cougars did not back down on Sunday and managed to finish ahead of the pack in multiple races.

The Washington State women’s rowing team struggled to stay atop non-conference teams Saturday morning and only notched a second-place finish in the varsity eight.

On Sunday however, the Cougars managed to gain lost terrain, retrieving wins in three of the seven races held at Lake Hartwell.

“It was pretty windy out there,” said Head Coach Jane LaRiviere in a press release. “We switched up the line ups today in the varsity eight and the second varsity eight between sessions, and I think we learned a few things. Overall it was a solid weekend. We are looking forward to having next weekend off and using the time for a bit of seat racing and final boat selection.”

To kick off the morning on Sunday, the WSU varsity eight (freshman Isabella Watt, senior Elise Jones, junior Mickey Aylard, sophomore Nicole Hare, senior Mollie McCabe, sophomore Jordan Watson, sophomore Ieva Adomaviciute, and coxswain sophomore Sarah Wu) came out victorious with a time of 6:52.3.

With a different line-up in the second session, the Cougar varsity eight (Watt, senior Kendall Boliba, Aylard, Hare, McCabe, Watson, sophomore Morgan Cathrea,  Jones, and coxswain Wu) took third  with a time of 7:11.4  beating Michigan State by two-tenths of a second.

In the varsity four races, WSU’s boat (sophomore Kim Coon, sophomore Chloe Rogers, junior Alex Waddell, senior Hannah deVos, and sophomore coxswain Rebecca Burns) notched the win in the second session (8.34.6) and finished second in the first session (7:52.0). WSU lost by two seconds against Syracuse.

The Cougar second varsity eight (freshman Mihaela-Teodora Berindei, Boliba, junior Carter Marks, junior Noel Christiansen, redshirt junior Kerry Hassall, redshirt sophomore Kayla Wakulich, senior Emily Starkel, junior Megan McDonald, and senior coxswain Emily Boquet) also raced well, notching the win in the first session (7.03.4).

Again the Cougars used a different lineup, this time in the second varsity eight (Berindei, Wakulich, Marks, McDonald, Hassall, Christiansen, Starkel, Adomaviciute, and coxswain Boquet). This time around, the Cougars finished third with a time of 7:27.4. No. 20 Indiana (7:22.4), and No. 13 UCLA (7:24.7) crossed the finish line ahead of the Cougars.

The Cougars’ third varsity eight boat only competed in the first session Sunday. The team finished fifth with a time of 7:56.1. Michigan State came in first (7:36.3), followed by No. 20 Indiana (7:39.6), No. 18 Syracuse (7:42.8), and Oregon State (7:47.7).

“We are looking forward to having next weekend off and using the time for a bit of seat racing and final boat selection,” LaRiviere said.