AZTEC ROWING WINS 2V8 RACE AT WIRA CHAMPIONSHIPS

SDSU ends weekend with one win, two seconds and a fourth-place finish

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

April 30, 2017 (Gold River, Calif.) - The San Diego State rowing team finished off the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships on Lake Natoma with a win in the second varsity eight final, second place finishes in the varsity eight and varsity four finals, and a fourth-place finish in the novice eight final.

The varsity eight began the morning with a 9 a.m. race where they came in second at 6:29.322 behind the Stanford lightweight crew (6:18.404). The Aztecs finished just before Loyola Marymount (6:31.132), Sacramento State (6:32.772), Seattle University (6:45.356), Saint Mary’s (6:47.042) and Santa Clara (7:12.086).

“At the start, we were a couple seats behind LMU, Sacramento State and the Stanford lightweight,” said V8 coxswain Cassandra Houy. “By the 750 meter mark, we gained about four seats on Sac State and were sitting one behind LMU. At the 1250 meter mark we took a power ten and brought it even with LMU. After that, we continued to walk and by the 400 meter mark, I was sitting on LMU’s five and six seat. We started the sprint five strokes before the last 300 meters and ended up on LMU’s three and four seat. We powered through the last 200 meters at stroke rate 38 and got second place behind Stanford.”

In the second varsity eight at 9:30, the Aztecs edged out the competition to take home the trophy in a 6:33.831 finish. Behind SDSU was LMU (6:39.763), Saint Mary’s (6:42.583), Sacramento State (6:45.015) and Santa Clara (6:56.229). The Stanford lightweight crew did not finish the race due to technical issues.

“We had a race plan and we stuck to it,” said 2V8 coxswain Alyssa Lua following the team’s win. “We were down one seat to Stanford at 150 meters in, but we were able to gain a four-seat lead by the first 500 meters. Stanford had some steering issues that caused them to stop rowing [at 500 meters]. We remained calm and confident and held a lengthy lead over LMU and Sac State throughout the entire middle thousand. At the last 500 meters, we hit it hard and emptied the tank. We were able to get our stroke rate up and ended the race with open water over the other crews.”

The novice eight final began at 10 a.m., and the SDSU boat was unable to move up from the middle of the pack, finishing fourth in 6:58.162. Ahead of the Aztecs were Seattle U (6:47.200), UCSB (6:47.790) and UC Davis (6:55.562). Oregon (7:03.186) finished a few seconds behind SDSU, while Humboldt State (7:07.174) finished sixth.

In the last race of the day, the Aztecs logged another second-place finish, this time in the varsity four. SDSU’s 7:23.841 was just two seconds shy of winner Sac State’s 7:21.701. The Sac State B boat (7:41.369) came in third, ahead of Saint Mary’s (7:44.321), Saint Mary’s B (8:02.417) and Santa Clara (8:35.415).

Up next, the San Diego State rowing team travels to Sarasota, Fla., for the American Athletic Conference Championships on Friday, May 13.

Results:

V8, 9 a.m.

1. Stanford Lightweight Women – 6:18.404

2. SDSU – 6:29.322

3. Loyola Marymount – 6:31.132

4. Sacramento State – 6:32.772

5. Seattle University – 6:45.356

6. Saint Mary’s – 6:47.042

7. Santa Clara – 7:12.086

2V8, 9:30 a.m.

1. SDSU – 6:33.831

2. Loyola Marymount – 6:39.763

3. Saint Mary’s – 6:42.583

4. Sacramento State – 6:45.015

5. Santa Clara – 6:56.229

Stanford Lightweight – EXC

Novice Eight, 10 a.m.

1. Seattle University – 6:47.200

2. UCSB – 6:47.790

3. UC Davis – 6:55.562

4. SDSU – 6:58.162

5. Oregon – 7:03.186

6. Humboldt State – 7:07.174

V4, 10:20 a.m.

1. Sacramento State – 7:21.701

2. SDSU – 7:23.841

3. Sacramento State B – 7:41.369

4. Saint Mary’s – 7:44.321

5. Saint Mary’s B – 8:02.417

6. Santa Clara – 8:35.415

Lineup:

V8: Georgina Bourke (bow), Brynn Danvers (two), Christa Carrilo (three), Bianca van Dyk (four), Hannah Gasser (five), Isabelle Paul (six), Sara Avery (seven), Madeline Bernard (stroke), Cassandra Houy (coxswain).

2V8: Hannah Norris (bow), Deborah Worthey (two), Brooke Hepner (three), Alana Grollow (four), Phoebe Dammersmith (five), Emaleigh White (six), Tara Montgomery (seven), Lauren Allen (stroke), Alyssa Lua (coxswain).

V4: Laurie Tenenbaum (bow), Mycayla Smith (two), Daria Peck (three), Laura Keane (stroke), Rachel Gemperle (coxswain).

Novice Eight: Malia Metkiff (bow), Hannah Carney (two), Rebecca Sievers (three), Sophia Holbrook (four), Brooke Boron (five), Maia Graham (six), Michaela Setiawan (seven), Erika Ortiz (stroke), Danielle Stancikas (coxswain).