GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The Western Washington University women’s rowing team turned in a solid team performance during the final day of the 2018 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships with all three of its crews racing in the Grand Finals on Lake Natoma outside of Sacramento.
Western’s Varsity 4+ entry took home the gold medal in the D2/D3/Club event with an open-water victory over Central Oklahoma. The Varsity 8+ won bronze – the 2nd-fastest NCAA II crew in the race – and the Novice 4+ finished just off the podium in 4th place.
“It was a really exciting weekend and we are very satisfied with the team performance,” said 20th-year head coach John Fuchs. “The team progressed with each meet, and I want to applaud them for their patience and understanding, and ultimately how it paid off this weekend. Everybody performed better than they have all season, and that is very satisfying.”
The Varsity 4+ gave a golden performance in the Grand Final, beating Central Oklahoma by over a boat length finishing the 2,000-meter course in 7:35.691. UCO, who edge the Vikings in the fours race at the Falcon Regatta two weeks ago in Seattle, won the silver medal in 7:40.317. WWU started to pull away from the six-team field early in the race, and steadily grew its lead before using a strong finish to put open water between the Vikings and Bronchos. The Vikings top four-oared entry won the 2017 NCAA Division II Championships, leading Western to its eighth national championship.
The Varsity 8+ opened the race schedule finishing 3rd for the bronze medal in a fast Grand Final, completing the 2,000-meter course in a fast time of 6:52.428. Western was edged in the speedy Grand Final by Central Oklahoma (6:45.836) and UC Santa Barbara (6:49.836), with the Vikings finishing ahead of West Region foes UC San Diego (4th place/6:55.961) and Seattle Pacific (6th place/7:03.319). UCO, who is ranked No. 1 in the national coaches poll and West Region rankings, led wire-to-wire, while the Vikings charged for 2nd place but finished a few seats back of UCSB.
The Novice 4+ finished just off the podium in 4th place in the Grand Final of its event, finishing in 7:56.506. A final push in the final 500 meters fell just short of catching the 3rd-place Stanford Lightweights, who edged WWU by less than a half boat length. Central Oklahoma won gold finishing in 7:36.758 and Loyola Marymount got the silver in 7:39.089.
The Vikings are set to complete the 2018 regular season next Saturday (May 5) at the 32nd Annual Windermere Cup hosted by the University of Washington on the Montlake Cut in Seattle. A race schedule and what crews will be racing in the Windermere Cup will be announced later this week.
WWU will then await the May 14 announcement of the field that will make up the five teams that will compete in the 2018 NCAA Division II Rowing Championships. The top teams from the three regions (East, South, West) and one at-large team will compete for the NCAA II Championships May 25-27 in Sarasota, Florida.