LOWELL, Ore. – The Western Washington University women's rowing program claimed the team title at the 2022 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Rowing Championships held Saturday on Dexter Lake.
 
The Vikings edged out regional rivals Seattle Pacific and Central Oklahoma for a one-point margin of victory to take home the team title in the second GNAC Rowing Championships. WWU finished with 26 points, bolstered by the winning varsity eight, one ahead of Seattle Pacific (25 points) and two more than three-time defending national champion Central Oklahoma (24 points).
 
WWU's Varsity 8+ has been surging late in the season, winning the WIRA Championships on Lake Natoma two weeks ago, putting in a solid performance at the Opening Day Regatta last Saturday on Montlake Cut and today put an exclamation point on a great May winning the GNAC title. The Vikings eight-oared crew completed the 2,000-meter Dexter Lake course in 7:03.430, edging SPU by a seat for a margin of victory of less than a second.
 
The Vikings received a sterling effort from the Varsity 4+ with one of its best performances of the season placing third in 8:11.239. UCO won in a time of 7:54.954, followed by SPU in 8:05.965. The third-place finish from the fours gathered eight key points, to go with the 18 winning points from the eight, to lift the Vikings to the team victory.
 
Western placed fourth in the exhibition open four in a time of 8:28.310, with the opening race of the regatta not counting towards the team points standings.
 
The GNAC title and head-to-head victory in the eights over SPU and UCO will put the Vikings in good position to receive an invitation to the NCAA Rowing Championships that will be held May 27-28 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida. WWU entered the GNAC Championships ranked No. 2 in the West Region (behind UCO). The top ranked team in each the West, South and East Regions, and three at-large teams, will make up the field for the NCAA Division II Rowing Championships. Western has competed in 18 of the last 21 NCAA Rowing Championships and is an eight-time national champion. The NCAA DII Rowing Selection Show will air at 2 pm PT on NCAA.com.
  The Vikings claimed the team title, in addition to the gold medal in the Varsity 8+ race, finishing with 26 points for a one-point advantage over Seattle Pacific and two points over third-place Central Oklahoma.
 

Place	School	Points
1st	Western Washington	26
2nd	Seattle Pacific	25
3rd	Central Oklahoma	24
4th	Cal Poly Humboldt	15

  Teams were scored based on placing in the Varsity 4+ and Varsity 8+ race as follows. Western Washington earned 18 points for winning the Varsity 8+ and eight points for the third-place finish in the Varsity 4+, finishing with 26 points to edge Seattle Pacific by one point for the team title.
 

Place	Varsity 8+	Varsity 4+
1st	18	12
2nd	15	10
3rd	12	8
4th	9	6

  Here is a look at the final results from the three races in the 2022 GNAC Rowing Championships. The Varsity 4+ and Varsity 8+ were the only counting races to score points for the team title:
 

Event	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	4th Place
Open 4+ Exhibition	Central Oklahoma (8:08.390)	Seattle Pacific (8:20.080)	Cal Poly Humboldt (8:22.940)	Western Washington (8:28.310)
Varsity 4+	Central Oklahoma (7:54.954)	Seattle Pacific (8:05.965)	Western Washington (8:11.239)	Cal Poly Humboldt (8:15.332)
Varsity 8+	Western Washington (7:03.430)	Seattle Pacific (7:04.320)	Central Oklahoma (7:06.000)	Cal Poly Humboldt (7:18.440)

  Here is a look at the boat lineups for the Vikings for the three entries in the 2022 GNAC Rowing Championships:
 

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

  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).

ROW | CHAMPIONS!!!@WWU_Rowing brings home the GNAC Championship! LET'S GOOO!!!!! pic.twitter.com/a3eutINEkr
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) May 14, 2022

  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. The Vikings added the 2022 GNAC Rowing Championships team and V8+ titles to its trophy case this season, in addition to the WIRA V8+ Gold Medal.