Western's varsity eight competes in the petite finals race at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships, Saturday, at Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif. photo courtesy of Miranda Steward
The Western women’s rowing team has two things to be proud of after last weekend.
First, they won the eight- and four-person races at the unofficial NCAA Division II West Regional races held in conjunction with the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships Saturday and earned a spot in the national championships.
Second, the team held their own in the Pac-10 Rowing Championships against Division I schools. After barely missing a chance to compete in the main finals event, the varsity eight placed third in the petite finals and ninth overall. Both races were held on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif.
The Vikings started the weekend with the varsity eight winning the regional tournament with a time of 6 minutes, 53.1 seconds in the 2,000-meter race Saturday.
Western’s time was fast enough to finish two boat lengths ahead of second-place University of California, San Diego, whose time was 7:04.1. Western’s varsity four time was 8:01.1, almost three seconds ahead of second place.
Sunday, the varsity eight clocked 6:45.67 in the qualifying heat for the Pac-10 Rowing Championships. Their fourth-place finish was four seconds and one place short of qualifying for the main finals.
The varsity eight went on to finish in 6:58.3 in the petite finals. The Vikings were a boat length behind first-place University of California, Los Angeles in the petite finals and half a boat length behind second-place Gonzaga University.
Western junior Gina Auriemma said one challenge the team faced was adapting to the 105-degree heat at Lake Natoma. The temperature was a major difference from Bellingham temperatures, which were averaging 30-40 degrees cooler at the time.
Despite the heat, the coaches did an excellent job ensuring the team stayed well hydrated and focused in the extreme heat, Auriemma said.
Western junior Audrey Coon, a member of the varsity eight, said she and the rest of the team were very happy with the team’s strong performance over the weekend against top-rated Division I schools.
The team worked well together and Western’s performance over the weekend sets the standard for all Division II schools, Coon said.
Team captain and Western senior Metta Gilbert said she is extremely proud of the team as well. Gilbert said she has been on the team for four years and has been impressed with the dedication and effort everybody gives day in and day out.
Gilbert said she, along with the rest of the team, was happy to end the regular season on such a positive note.
She said she has many fond memories of being on the team which will be hard to let go of when she graduates.
In the meantime, she still has the national tournament to focus on.
“We put in seven months of training and hard work,” Gilbert said. “We knew what we wanted, went to California and did just that.”
The Vikings’ performance came as no surprise to assistant coach Lindsay Mann-King. Before the race, Mann-King said she had total confidence the team would come out of the weekend with a strong showing because of how hard they worked over the past year.
The accomplishments the Vikings made won’t stop with last weekend’s successes. This is the fourth year in a row the Vikings have qualified for the national meet.
According to the US Rowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA Division II Poll, the Vikings are ranked No.1 in the nation.
Also, 12 members of the team were recently named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference At-Large Academic All-Star Team.
The Vikings have won six of their nine competitions so far this season with the only losses being against Division I schools.
The next competition for Western will be the NCAA Division II National Championships held May 30—June 1. The event will be held at Lake Natoma.
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