The WSU women’s rowing team will head to Seattle and compete in its final race for the fall season at the Head of the Lake hosted by the Lake Washington Rowing Club.

Rowing against the Cougs will be Stanford University, Oregon State University, Gonzaga University, Seattle University, University of Portland, Western Washington University, University of British Columbia and the hosts, University of Washington.

“We’re really excited to go to Head of the Lake and finally get to test ourselves against our peer schools,” said Head Coach Jane LaRiviere in an interview with WSU Athletics.

This regatta features a three-mile long course that begins in Lake Union, passes through Montlake Cut, and ends in Lake Washington just by the Conibear Shellhouse.

Redshirt senior Ieva Admaviciute says that it will be a bit more challenging because they typically race 2-kilometer races in the spring versus the few 5-kilometer races that they do in the fall.

“It will be hard to judge because it will be a 5-kilometer race and our standard race is 2-kilometers,” Admaviciute said. “So it will be different, but it will be interesting to see.”

Redshirt senior Nicole Hare says that they typically do more aerobic work to help them prepare for the longer races in the fall season.

After the past two races, LaRiviere feels like the team is moving in the right direction as they approach the spring season. Most of the team is upperclassmen, so the team has plenty of experience.

“I’m very optimistic,” LaRiviere said via WSU Athletics. “We are being driven by juniors and seniors right now, and that’s a nice thing to have happen every now and again. There’s lots of maturity and people with tremendous amount of experience.”

During WSU’s last regatta, the Cougs Varsity Four A, which included junior Ellie Burg as coxswain, sophomores Jess Brougham, Paige Danielson, freshman Ivy Elling Quaintance, who took first place in the first flight with a time of 15:49.

The Cougs Varsity Four B took second with a time of 16:02. This boat included redshirt seniors Chloe Rogers and Ieva Adomaviciute, senior Mihaela-Teodora Berindei, juniors Lucie Weissova and Jenna Mangiagli, who was coxswain.

In the second flight, the WSU’s Varsity Eight, which was rowed by Rogers, Hare, Berindei and Adomaviciute, Weissova and Mangiagli, Danielson and Brougham and Quaintance, took first place with a time of 14:39.

The Second Varsity Eight finished in third with a time of 15:25. This boat included seniors Isabella Watt and Jessi Howe, juniors Jenna Kennedy, Kristel Tohu, and Jessica Newson, Ellie Burg, who was coxswain, sophomores Sara Brevick and Taija Thompson and freshman Renee Kemp.

The WSU women’s rowing team will close out its fall season at 8 a.m. on Sunday. The spring season will kick off against Gonzaga at home Mar. 25.