May 4, 2003

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. - The nationally ranked Western Washington University women's varsity eight won its petite final by over four seconds and the Viking men's varsity eight narrowly missed out on a medal, placing fourth in its grand final, Sunday at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships held on Lake Natoma.

Western's women's eight, tied for No.2 nationally in the latest NCAA Division II poll, completed the 2,000-meter course in 6:58.3. UC Davis, ranked No.1 nationally, placed fifth in 7:07.0. Puget Sound was second (7:02.7), UC Irvine third (7:06.0), Pacific Lutheran fourth (7:06.1) and Santa Clara sixth (7:16.6).

In the Vikings' shell were coxswain Emily Davis (Jr., Carnation/Mount Si), stroke Julia Gamache (Fr., Seattle/Blanchet), No.7 Katie Miller (Sr., Fife), No.6 Kailyn McGrath (So., Fillmore, CA/Villanova Prep), No.5 Katrina Anderson (Fr., Anchorage, AK/West Anchorage), No.4 Laura Hancock (Jr., Ridgefield), No.3 Gail Lumsden (So., Everett/Mariner), No.2 Krystol Daugherty (So., Bellevue/Interlake) and bow Laurel Kaminski (Jr., Bellevue/Newport).

"We executed our race plan flawlessly," said Western program coordinator and women's coach John Fuchs. "The things we did really well yesterday, we capitalized on, and the things we felt that we could improve upon, we improved upon. It went exactly like we planned. It was definitely our best performance of the year."

"I was a little surprised at UC Davis. They're a good outfit and I don't expect to see them that far back in two weeks. They've got a good solid program."

The Viking men's eight missed out on a bronze medal by .04 of a second, being edged out of third place by Orange Coast. Both crews were timed in 6:08.3. UC Davis took top honors with a time of 6:00.8 and Gonzaga was second (6:02.2). Santa Clara placed fifth (6:11.8) and host Sacramento State was sixth (6:19.1).

"UC Davis looked very impressive and Gonzaga looked sharp too," said Western men's coach Marty Sauvage. "We had beaten Orange Coast before, so I knew that we could mix it up with them. Unfortunately, we just couldn't quite get to the finish line in time. But they rowed as hard today as they have all season, and that's what you want when you get to a final."

"We felt that we had to go about six minutes if we were going to be among the leaders. We didn't get quite close enough to that, but they kept themselves in the hunt and right down at the end against Orange Coast they were going stroke for stroke for the bronze medal and came up a little short."

Seated in the men's eight were coxswain Kelly McComb (Jr., Bainbridge Island), stroke Tyrell Marlow (Sr., Chimacum), No.7 Casey Raymond (Jr., Snohomish), No.6 Joshua Griesse (Jr., Pleasant Hill, OR), No.5 Alex Zaveruha (Jr., Oak Harbor), No.4 Jonathan King (Sr., Vancouver/Fort Vancouver), No.3 Case Sweerus (So., Gig Harbor), No.2 Jonathan Fox (Fr., Shoreline/Shorewood), and bow Adam Dunn (Fr., Vancouver/Mountain View).

The race was the last of the season for Western's men. The Viking women have a week off before returning to Lake Natoma on May 17-18 for the NCAA II West Regional and the Pacific-10 Conference Championships.

"This win really helps us regionally," Fuchs said. "We're really far back in the four compared to UC Davis, but we beat them pretty handily in the eight and that's going to really help us. It puts us in a good position coming into the final few weeks of training."

RESULTS

WESTERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ROWING ASSOCIATION CHAMPIONSHIPS

MV8GF - 1. UC Davis 6:00.8, 2. Gonzaga 6:02.2, 3. Orange Coast 6:08.3,
4. WESTERN 6:08.36, 5. Santa Clara 6:11.8, 6. Sacramento State 6:19.1.

WV8PF - 1. WESTERN 6:58.3, 2. Puget Sound 7:02.7, 3. UC Irvine 7:06.0,
4. Pacific Lutheran 7:06.1, 5. UC Davis 7:07.0, 6. Santa Clara 7:16.6.