April 2, 2017 SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Western Washington University women's rowing team backed up its recent No. 1 national ranking with dominating victories in the Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ of the Women's Collegiate (DII/DIII/Club) races on Sunday at the 2017 San Diego Crew Classic.
"I thought we had strong performances by both crews today," said WWU head coach John Fuchs, in his 19th year leading the program. "They followed their race plans and paid attention to solid rowing. It was the first competition this spring with the West Region DII programs. So we are off to a good start this year."
Western's Varsity 8+ crew, coxswained by sophomore Giselle Kiraly (Vancouver, WA/Columbia River HS), completed the 2,000-meter course in the Grand Final in 6:53.340 for an open water victory over second-place Humboldt State (7:00.870). The Vikings raced out of Lane 2 after winning the first heat yesterday. WWU improved upon its time of 6:54.269 from the prelims. Grand Valley State (7:07.448), UC San Diego (7:09.382) and Purdue (7:13.042) rounded out the top 5 in the eight-crew Grand Final.
The Varsity 4+, coxswained by sophomore Rachel Dalthorp (Olympia, WA/Capital), had a four-second edge over second-place Humboldt State finishing the 2,000-meter course in 7:48.396. Long Beach State (3rd, 7:53.822), UC Berkeley Lightweights (4th, 7:58.864) and Purdue (5th, 8:02.714) rounded out the top 5.
"We have two weeks to train before we see them all again (the West Region) and inner squad competition will start to blossom as soon as we get back to Bellingham. It's been a great trip and we are happy with the team."
Official results from the Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ races today in San Diego:
Western Washington University Rowing - Boat Lineups
San Diego Crew Classic • San Diego, CA • Mission Bay • April 1-2, 2017 |
Varsity 8 | Varsity 4 |
Coxswain | Giselle Kiraly (So., Vancouver, WA/Columbia River HS) | Coxswain | Rachel Dalthorp (So., Olympia, WA/Capital HS) |
Stroke | Chloe Burns (Jr., Kirkland, WA/Lake Washington HS) | Stroke | Molly Ware (Sr., Olympia, WA/Olympia HS) |
7 | Karisa Stapp (Jr., Bellingham, WA/Mount Baker HS) | 3 | Mary Harper (Jr., Seattle, WA/Ingraham HS) |
6 | Claire Whiting (Jr., Maple Valley, WA/Tahoma HS) | 2 | Kasey Mallon-Andrews (Jr., Issaquah, WA/Issaquah HS) |
5 | Izzy Barnwell (So., Seward, AK/Seward HS) | Bow | Trisha Patterson (Jr., Camas, WA/Camas HS) |
4 | Kia Parrish-Haim (Sr., Ashland, OR/Ashland HS) | |
3 | Kelly Oberbillig (So., Milton, WA/Fife HS) |
2 | Megan Reid (Jr., Sitka, AK/Sitka HS) |
Bow | Emily Bartlett (Sr., Broadlands, VA/Thomas Jefferson S&T) |
The Vikings, ranked No. 1 in the recent Division II CRCA/US Rowing poll, have won all nine of their races this season, going 6-for-6 at the season-opening Pacific Lutheran Invitational and 3-for-3 at the San Diego Crew Classic.
WWU returns to competition April 15 at the Covered Bridge Regatta on Dexter Lake outside of Eugene, Oregon.
WWU is the seven-time NCAA II National Champion (2005-2011) and national runner-up three times dating back to the inaugural Division II regatta in 2002. The Vikings finished 3rd at last year's NCAA II Championships. The 2017 NCAA Rowing National Championships for all divisions will be held May 26-28 on Lake Mercer in West Windsor, New Jersey.
