April 30, 2005

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. - For the first time in school history, Western Washington University has qualified both its women's varsity eight and varsity four shells for grand finals at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships being held at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma.

The Vikings' eight, ranked No.1 nationally in the latest USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Poll, will race at 12 noon Sunday and the varsity four at 9:40 a.m.

"We haven't been in a varsity eight final here in a long time," said Western program coordinator and women's coach John Fuchs. "It's a sign that we're moving forward. And with a win by the varsity four in their heat, both crews are in grand finals, going for medals and possibly winning the whole darn thing."

Western's varsity four won its qualifying heat Saturday, completing the 2,000-meter course in 7:38.5. That was just over two seconds better than runner-up Long Beach State (7:40.7), with San Diego State third (7:45.5) in the seven-boat race.

"It's amazing," Fuchs said. "They had an awesome race and they've got a great shot at winning this whole thing. I thought going in that if they pulled off a great race that they might make it into the grand final. But they took it one step beyond that."

"Long Beach State had about a length on us after the first 500, but we just plowed through them in the second 500 and took command of the race. Long Beach State made a push at the end, but we held them off."

In the Vikings' four were coxswain Elisabeth Johnson (Jr., Seattle/Franklin), stroke Courtney Moeller (Sr., Renton/Liberty), No.3 Samantha Marikis (Fr., Republic), No.2 Tanya Kaufman (Fr., San Anselmo, CA/Sir Francis Drake) and bow Jordan Tobler (Fr., Langley/South Whidbey). In the grand final, Western will face two other heat champions, St. Mary's CA and Seattle Pacific, and the three heat runner-ups, Long Beach State, Gonzaga and Oregon.

Western's varsity eight, which was the No.7 seed among the 18 entries, finished second in its qualifying heat to Loyola Marymount (7:08.5). The Vikings were clocked in 7:11.6 as they edged No.1 seed San Diego State (7:12.8) by just over a second in the seven-boat run.

"Loyola Marymount took an early lead and had a great run, and we were neck and neck with San Diego State the whole way," said Fuchs. "We went into the last quarter knowing we had to take second in order to get to the grand final, and we just moved out ... We were maybe a seat or two down (to San Diego State) coming into the last quarter and we've been focusing on the last part of the race this year and it definitely paid off. It's a move we haven't had in a long time, and it's all paying off."

Seated in the Vikings' eight, which was victorious last week at the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference Championships, were coxswain Krissy Whaley (Sr., Woodinville), stroke Julia Gamache (Jr., Seattle/Blanchet), No.7 Staci Reynolds (Fr., Vancouver/Columbia River), No.6 Lindsay Mann-King (So., Colville), No.5 Kailyn McGrath (Jr., Fillmore, CA/Villanova Prep), No.4 Metta Gilbert (Fr., Helena, MT), No.3 Gail Lumsden (Sr., Everett/Mariner), No.2 Amelia Whitcomb (Fr., Spokane/Ferris) and bow Stephanie Parker (So., Marysville, WA/Marysville-Pilchuck).

In the eight grand final, Western goes up against Loyola Marymount, host and No.2 seed Sacramento State, No.3 seed Gonzaga, Puget Sound and San Diego. Sacramento State (7:12.8) and Gonzaga (7:05.4) were the other two heat winners.

"Tomorrow's race is going to be really close," Fuchs said. "I see all six crews within a boat length of each other. We should be in the middle or towards the front of the pack, and if we really pull one off, we should have a good chance of medaling."

Western had won the petite final in the women's varsity eight competition at the WIRA Championships in each of the last two years.

The Vikings' men's novice eight won its petite final (7:35.4) Saturday after finishing third (6:30.0) in its qualifying heat earlier in the day, and the Western's men's varsity four placed first (7:43.2) in its third final after finishing fifth (7:11.0) in its qualifying heat.

"I think they figured out how hard you have to go in the morning to set yourself up for the afternoon," said Western men's coach Marty Sauvage. "As much as we told them, they didn't understand it until they got out here."

The Vikings easily outdistanced UC Davis in the varsity four third final and edged UC Irvine by under two seconds in the men's novice eight petite final.

"The novice eight had a tall order this morning, but did beat the No.8 seed," Sauvage said. "And this afternoon, we got up by four seats in the middle 1,000 of the race, and we seemed to have another gear in the final 500 and UC Irvine couldn't respond."

The lineup for the novice eight included coxswain Amber Jacobs (Fr., Port Orchard/South Kitsap), stroke Blake Herrington (Fr., Vancouver/Columbia River), No.7 Chris deVos (Fr., Seattle/Roosevelt), No.6 Jack Marolich (Fr., Sammamish/Eastlake), No.5 David Hancock (Fr., Shoreline/Shorewood), No.4 Erik Kalstad (Fr., Bothell), No.3 Kevin Cumming (So., Woodinville), No.2 Chris Ippolito (Fr., Fall City/Mount Si) and bow Eric Weishaar (Fr., Federal Way).

"These young kids are now getting an idea of how hard they're going to have to go to be competitive, and what it's going to take to compete at the next level," said Sauvage.

A total of 28 schools are participating in the WIRA Championships, which is the main West Coast event for non-PAC-10 schools.

RESULTS:

Women's Varsity 4 (heat 1) - 1. Western Washington 7:38.5, 2. Long Beach State 7:40.7, 3. San Diego State 7:45.5, 4. Pacific Lutheran 7:48.7, 5. Sacramento State 8:11.7, 6. Chapman 8:14.6, 7. Colorado 8:17.3

Grand Final (Sunday) - Long Beach State, Gonzaga, St. Mary's CA, Seattle Pacific, Oregon, Western Washington

Women's Varsity (heat 1) - 1. Loyola Marymount 7:08.5, 2. Western Washington 7:11.6, 3. San Diego State 7:12.8, 4. Santa Clara 7:32.1, 5. Lewis & Clark 7:38.1, 6. Mills 8:10.4, 7. Chapman 8:16.1

Grand Final (Sunday) - Loyola Marymount, Western Washington, Sacramento State, Puget Sound, Gonzaga, San Diego

Men's Varsity 4 (heat) - 1. Sacramento State 6:53.0, 2. Oregon 6:55.9, 3. San Diego State 7:06.4, 4. Seattle Pacific 7:06.4, 5. Western Washington 7:11.0, 6. UC Davis 7:16.0

Men's Varsity 4 (3rd final) - 1. Western Washington 7:43.2, 2. UC Davis 7:57.8, 3. St. Mary's CA 8:07.6, 4. Portland 8:13.7

Men's Novice 8 (heat) - 1. UC San Diego 6:15.5, 2. UC Davis 6:20.3, 3. Western Washington 6:30.0, 4. UC Santa Barbara 6:40.9, 5. Chapman 6:53.5

Men's Novice 8 (petite final) - 1. Western Washington 7:35.4, 2. UC Irvine 7:37.1, 3. Puget Sound 7:14.5, 4. Cal Lightweights 7:21.8, 5. Santa Clara 7:23.8, 6. Santa Barbara 7:32.0

WWU LINEUPS:

Women's Varsity 4 - Coxswain Elisabeth Johnson (Jr., Seattle/Franklin), stroke Courtney Moeller (Sr., Renton/Liberty), No.3 Samantha Marikis (Fr., Republic), No.2 Tanya Kaufman (Fr., San Anselmo, CA/Sir Francis Drake), bow Jordan Tobler (Fr., Langley/South Whidbey)

Women's Varsity 8 - Coxswain Krissy Whaley (Sr., Woodinville), stroke Julia Gamache (Jr., Seattle/Blanchet), No.7 Staci Reynolds (Fr., Vancouver/Columbia River), No.6 Lindsay Mann-King (So., Colville), No.5 Kailyn McGrath (Jr., Fillmore, CA/Villanova Prep), No.4 Metta Gilbert (Fr., Helena, MT), No.3 Gail Lumsden (Sr., Everett/Mariner), No.2 Amelia Whitcomb (Fr., Spokane/Ferris), bow Stephanie Parker (So., Marysville, WA/Marysville-Pilchuck).

Men's Varsity 4 - Coxswain Austin Jenkins (Sr., Vancouver/Hudson's Bay), stroke Andy Foltz (Jr., Sumner), No.3 Phil DuBois (Sr., Olympia/Capital), No.2 Danny Buckley (Fr., Fairbanks, AK/West Valley), bow Nate Pedersen (Jr., Peaks Island, ME/Portland)

Men's Novice 8 - Coxswain Amber Jacobs (Fr., Port Orchard/South Kitsap), stroke Blake Herrington (Fr., Vancouver/Columbia River), No.7 Chris deVos (Fr., Seattle/Roosevelt), No.6 Jack Marolich (Fr., Sammamish/Eastlake), No.5 David Hancock (Fr., Shoreline/Shorewood), No.4 Erik Kalstad (Fr., Bothell), No.3 Kevin Cumming (So., Woodinville), No.2 Chris Ippolito (Fr., Fall City/Mount Si), bow Eric Weishaar (Fr., Federal Way)