LAKEWOOD, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's rowing program opened the 2022 season Saturday with a successful showing at the PLU Invitational on American Lake.
 
The Vikings opened the season winning their first trip down the lake of the new season, with the Varsity 8+ recording an open-water victory over GNAC rival Seattle Pacific and regatta host PLU. WWU's time on the 2,000m course was 7:01.4, with SPU well behind in 7:17.4.
 
WWU also matched up against Gonzaga and SPU in the first session of the Varsity 4+ and Open 4+.
 
In the second session, Western's Varsity 8+ finished behind Gonzaga and ahead of UPS, covering the American Lake course in 7:26.5. The Vikings again raced against NCAA Division I Gonzaga in the Varsity 4+ and Open 4+ in the second session, placing 3rd and 2nd respectively.
 
Led by 24-year head coach John Fuchs, the Vikings made their season debut in a scheduled five-regatta regular season leading up to the GNAC Championships on May 14 in Dexter, Oregon and the NCAA Championships May 27-29 in Sarasota, Florida. The full 2022 season schedule can be viewed online at WWUVikings.com/RowViks.

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A post shared by WWU Athletics (@wwuathletics)
 

  Here a look at the final results from the preseason-opening PLU Invitational held Saturday, March 5 on American Lake:
 

Event	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
First Session
V8+	WWU (7:01.4)	SPU (7:17.4)	PLU (7:21.8)	---
V4+	Gonzaga-A (7:44.1)	Gonzaga-B (8:00.0)	SPU (8:11.7)	WWU (8:24.1)
Open 4+	Gonzaga (8:15.8)	WWU (8:42.4)	---	---
Second Session
V8+	Gonzaga (7:06.5)	WWU (7:26.5)	UPS (8:05.1)	---
V4+	Gonzaga-A (8:10.8)	Gonzaga-B (8:23.5)	WWU (8:46.2)	---
Open 4+	Gonzaga (8:34.0)	WWU (8:45.5)	---	---

  Here are the crew lineups that raced for WWU in Saturday's PLU Invitational:
 

Varsity Eight Le Mieux	Varsity Four Mann King	Open Four Grit
Cox – Adele Houston	Cox – Kiana Doyle	Cox – Claudia Webster
Stroke – Lindsey Froelich	Stroke – Lily Bjork	Stroke – Sadie Bailey
7 – Morgan MacIntyre	3 – Phoebe Hafertepen	3 – Reed Chesnek
6 – Clarice Ruhlin-Hicks	2 – Ella Brinkman	2 – Paige Donner
5 – Olivia Pells	Bow – Kristina De Koster	Bow – Linnea Olix
4 – Emma Clark
3 – Maddie Bangasser
2 – Yuki Saburi
Bow – Haley Moss
Second Session Alterations
Bow – Sarah Ernst		Bow – Madeline Kidd
		Stroke – Haley Moss

  Following Saturday's preseason regatta, the Vikings will next be in competition April 2 at the Husky Open on Montlake Cut in Seattle. The complete 2022 regatta schedule can be found online at wwuvikings.com/RowViks.
  More information on the WWU Rowing program, including a details schedule, roster and quick facts can be found online at WWUVikings.com/RowViks and via social media on Twitter (@WWU_Rowing), Instagram (@wwuwomensrowing) and Facebook (@WWURowing).
  Led by head coach John Fuchs (24th season), WWU Rowing is one of the elite collegiate rowing programs in the country, having won eight NCAA Division II National Championships. The Vikings won the 2017 NCAA II title, placed 2nd in 2018 and 3rd in 2019. WWU has competed in the NCAA Championships in 18 of the last 21 seasons, taking home the gold (8 times) or silver (4 times) medal 12 times in the 19 years the NCAA Division II team title has been awarded. Western won seven consecutive DII national championships from 2005-2011. In 17 trips to the NCAA Rowing Championships dating back to 2002, WWU has had its Varsity 4+ and Varsity 8+ reach the grand finals every time.