April 29, 2017 GOLD RIVER, Calif. - The Western Washington University women's rowing team won four of five races Saturday during the first day of the 2017 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships (WIRA) on Lake Natoma.
The Vikings won their heats in the Varsity 8+, Varsity 4+ and Novice 4+ of the D2/D3/Club division to advance to Sunday's Grand Final. The Varsity 4+ "B" entry narrowly missed qualifying for the Grand Final, but took the top spot in Saturday afternoon's Petite Final.
The Vikings, who are ranked No. 2 in the CRCA/US Rowing Division II Coaches Poll and hold the top spot in the NCAA II West Region rankings, have now won 18 of 22 races this spring.
"We are happy with the performance today. The Varsity 4 "B" entry was so close to getting into the Grand Final with the rest of the squad," said head coach John Fuchs, in his 19th season leading the Vikings. "The V4 came back and won the Petite Final later in the afternoon with a lot of determination. We are looking forward to watching some good racing tomorrow."
WWU's Varsity 8+ entry won the first heat finishing the 2,000-meter course in 6:41.374, better than a 3-second margin of victory over Lewis & Clark. The Vikings will be the top seed in tomorrow's Grand Final scheduled to start at 8:50 am.
Western's Varsity 4+ "A" entry took the top spot in the first of three heats, finishing in 7:29.144 ahead of second-place UC Davis (7:31.024) and third-place UC Irvine (7:42.408). The "B" entry in the Varsity 4+ finished in 3rd place in the third heat by less than a second, putting them in the Saturday afternoon Petite Final, which they won by over two seconds over Sonoma State.
The Novice 4+ also advanced to the Grand Final winning the second heat in 7:39.009, ahead of second-place Loyola Marymount (7:42.709) and third-place Puget Sound (7:56.285). The first-year rowers will race out of Lane 3 in Sunday's Grand Final (12:10 pm).
The complete results of WWU's five races from today's competition at the WIRA Championships were as follows:
Varsity 8+
D2, D3, Club Heat 1 (Lane 1):
- Western Washington - 6:41.374 (Advances to Sunday's Grand Final - 8:50 am)
- Lewis & Clark - 6:44.574
- UC Davis - 6:49.596
- UC Irvine - 7:03.672
- Arizona State - 7:18.994
Varsity 4+
D2, D3, Club Heat 1 (Lane 1):
- Western Washington "A" - 7:29.144 (Advances to Sunday's Grand Final - 10:30 am)
- UC Davis - 7:31.024
- UC Irvine - 7:42.408
- Arizona State - 7:53.944
- UC San Diego "B" - 7:58.544
D2, D3, Club Heat 3 (Lane 7):
- Long Beach State - 7:26.405
- Orange Coast - 7:29.205
- Western Washington "B" - 7:29.861 (Advanced to Petite Final)
- UC San Diego "A" - 7:40.413
- Seattle Pacific - 8:11.265
- Chapman - 8:23.341
- Portland State - 9:01.693
D2, D3, Club Petite Final (Lane 3):
- Western Washington - 7:35.232
- Sonoma State - 7:37.308
- UC Irvine - 7:44.020
- UC San Diego - 7:54.848
- Arizona State - 7:58.360
- UC Santa Barbara - 8:02.200
Novice 4+
Heat 2 (Lane 6):
- Western Washington - 7:39.009 (Advances to Sunday's Grand Final - 12:10 pm)
- Loyola Marymount - 7.42.709
- Puget Sound - 7:56.285
- Southern Oregon - 8:06.093
- UC San Diego - 8:08.001
- UC Davis - 8:22.477
WWU's Boat Lineups:
- Varsity 8+: Kiraly (cox), Burns (stroke), Stapp, Parrish-Haim, Barnwell, Whiting, Mallon-Andrews, Reid, Bartlett (bow)
- Varsity 4+ "A": Moelhman (cox), Vanderzanden (stroke), Harper, Oberbillig, Kerr (bow)
- Varsity 4+ "B": Dalthorp (cox), Ware (stroke), Patterson, Bivans, Yandt (bow)
- Novice 4+: Bettger (cox), Bonenberger (stroke), Hezel, Stapleton, Dexter (bow)
- Varsity 4+ (Petite Final): Dalthorp (cox), Bivans (stroke), Patterson, Dodge, Yandt (bow)
Here is how you can follow Sunday's action at the WIRA Championships from Lake Natoma:
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.
-- #RowViks --
