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WSU Cougars varsity four crew at NCAA Women’s Rowing Championship.
For additional information and photo gallery, click the following link to the WSU Cougars website.
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Consistently better
“It requires a tremendous amount of mental strength and physical fortitude to get through four races in three days,” WSU Head Coach Jane LaRiviere said. “Without exception, every one of our boats continued to get better, as they have all season. This is a great foundation for bigger and better things next year.”
Points and ranking
The Cougars scored 62 points to finish 14th as a team, just four points behind 13th-place Notre Dame (66 points) and 7 points behind 12th-place Michigan (69 points). Ohio State was crowned National Champion for the first time with 126 points, just two points ahead of California in second with 124 points. Princeton (third, 112 points), USC (fourth, 110 points) and Virginia (fifth, 108 points) rounded out the top-five. The rest of the placing included Washington in sixth (102 points) Brown in seventh (91 points), Yale in eighth (84 points), UCLA ninth (82 points), Stanford 10th (82 points), and Harvard 11th (79 points). Those finishing behind the Cougars included Cornell in 15th with 50 points, Wisconsin in 16th (44 points), Oklahoma 17th (35 points), Boston University 18th (28 points), Gonzaga 19th (27 points), Navy 20th (17 points), Rhode Island 21st (14 points) and Marist 22nd (six points).
Grand Final race
After qualifying for the Grand Final in Saturday’s racing, WSU’s varsity four crew (coxswain – Sarah Wu, Gina Head, Carter Marks, Noel Christiansen, bow- Liana DeMaris) finished sixth overall with a time of 7:25.852, earning the Cougars 17 points. The varsity four’s sixth-place finish marks the second-best by the Cougar varsity four in school history. The best finish came in 2006 when the crew came in fourth. The Cougars entered the race seeded ninth in the varsity four event, bettering their seeding by three spots. Ohio State won the race with a time of 7:08.262, followed by USC (7:11.025) and Washington (7:12.039).
Second best in history
“Accomplishing the second-best finish in school history is something to be very, very proud of,” LaRiviere said. “The hard work these women have put in all season really paid of this weekend.”
Seeded 16th heading into the championships, the WSU varsity eight (coxswain – Rebecca Burns, Kendall Boliba, Jennifer Hale, Ieva Adomaviciute, Stephanie Hinkle, Nicole Hare, Allie Reilly, Katie Dick, bow – Mickey Aylard) competed in the C Final for places 13th-18th. The Cougars held an early lead before Notre Dame passed them by the 1,000-meter mark. The Cougars were able to hold off a surging Cornell squad to place second in their heat and clinch 14th overall with a time of 6:38.076. The Fighting Irish clocked a time of 6:36.141. The Cougars finished head of Cornell and Wisconsin, which were seeded ahead of them coming into the championships. WSU earned 27 points in the event.
Future strong with freshmen
“I’m very proud of the entire varsity eight, but especially the seniors,” LaRiviere said. “With three freshmen in the boat we really relied heavily on the leadership provided by the four seniors. They really stepped up and set a great example for the underclassmen.”
The second varsity eight (coxswain – Heidi Kim, Carly Johnson, Emily Starkel, Alison Smith, Mollie McCabe, Hannah deVos, Erin Schuster, Elise Jones, bow – Ashlee Bonahoom) had to race twice Sunday after high winds and bad conditions suspended action Saturday. Racing in the second heat of the C/D Semifinals, the Cougars finished three seconds behind Michigan for second place with a time of 6:56.260. WSU was 10 seconds ahead of third-place Boston University (7:07.052).
In the C Final for 13th-18th place, the Cougars used a dramatic comeback to overtake and hold off Michigan for second place in their heat and 14th overall with a time of 6:41.170. Cornell came in first with a time of 6:40.522. Coming into the championships seeded 17th, WSU defeated Michigan, Wisconsin and Oklahoma, all of which that were seeded ahead of it. WSU picked up 18 points in the event.
Second varsity eight sprint
“The second varsity eight put on a tremendous sprint at the end of its second race and finished really strong,” LaRiviere said. “It was one of the finest sprints I’ve seen and even more impressive with it being their second race of the morning.”
The Cougars made their seventh team appearance at the NCAA Championships and their eighth overall. WSU has made the championships three of the last four seasons.
2013 NCAA ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS
1. Ohio State, 126
2. California, 124
3. Princeton, 112
4. USC, 110
5. Virginia, 108
6. Washington, 102
7. Brown, 91
8. Yale, 84
9. UCLA, 82
10. Stanford, 82
11. Harvard, 79
12. Michigan, 69
13. Notre Dame, 66
14. Washington State, 62
15. Cornell, 50
16. Wisconsin, 44
17. Oklahoma, 35
18. Boston University, 28
19. Gonzaga, 27
20. Navy, 17
21. Rhode Island, 14
22. Marist, 6
14. Washington State, 6:38.076
15. Cornell, 6:40.046
16. Wisconsin, 6:41.259
17. Oklahoma, 6:50.205
18. Boston University, 6:50.575
2. Washington State, 6:56.260
3. Boston University, 7:07.052
4. Navy, 7:10.255
5. Rhode Island, 7:12.210
14. Washington State, 6:41.170
15. Michigan, 6:42.016
16. Wisconsin, 6:45.990
17. Oklahoma, 6:47.752
18. Boston University, 7:04.857
2. USC, 7:11.025
3. Washington, 7:12.039
4. Virginia, 7:12.157
5. Brown, 7:21.125
6. Washington State, 7:25.852