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Women's Crew Seeks 9th Straight WCC Title
Jan. 26, 2005
Since the West Coast Conference adopted women's crew as a championship sport in 1997, Gonzaga University has been the program other schools have wanted to model themselves after. As they enter the 2005 rowing season, Gonzaga again appears ready to defend its WCC crown. The Bulldogs showed the true depth of their program last season as GU won the WCC title by one point. Gonzaga won the Junior Varsity 8+ race and finished second in the Varsity 4+ race to capture their eighth straight title. "I think we really showed the depth of our rowing program with last year's championship," stated head coach Glenn Putyrae, who has coached the Bulldogs to five of their eight titles. "We have always prided ourselves in the development of a complete program and that was never more evident than last year when we won the WCC's based on our finish in the JV 8+ and Varsity 4+ races." That depth in the program should once again carry the Bulldogs to the forefront of the WCC as they lose only two rowers from the Varsity 8 boat, one of them being All-American Maria Bokulich. "We will definitely miss a strong rower like Maria in our top boat," mentioned Putyrae on the Bulldogs lone All-American selection. "Based on what I saw last fall I believe the Varsity 8+ will be stronger this year. When you have a larger number of good rowers you can make up for the one great rower you are missing." Returning in the Bulldogs WCC Varsity 8+ boat are seniors Karen O'Hagan and Carolyn Schepper, junior Kari Durgan and sophomores Nicole Aadland-Lewis, Heather Jewell and Jessica Kocarnik. Also returning to the Varsity 8+ boat is senior Jen Gehlsen who missed last year with a medical redshirt. "We have six rowers back from last year's Varsity boat that finished third at the WIRA championships. We also have Jen Gehlsen returning to give us seven experienced rowers competing for spots in our top boat," Putyrae added. In addition to seven experienced rowers returning in the Varsity 8+, Gonzaga also has a crop of rowers ready to try and step into any empty seats. Returning from the Bulldogs Junior Varsity 8+ boat are sophomores Teresa Archuleta, juniors Sarah Allison, Maria Fussell and Mariah Smith-Miloff and senior Jenni Cooper. Smith-Miloff and Cooper each spent some time in the Varsity 8+ boat during the spring before racing in the JV 8+ at the WCC and WIRA championships. Gonzaga also returns junior Brianna Morin and senior Brittany Price from the Varsity 4+ that competed at the WCC championships. Also moving up and hoping to challenge for spots are Jessica Michaels, Ann Parker and Liz Sambach, all three returning from last year's Novice 4+ that finished first at the WIRA championships. "There will be a lot of intersquad competition for the top boat this winter and spring. I'm excited to see which athletes step up and take over spots in the Varsity 8+," said Putyrae. "This could be one of our deepest rosters since I took over the program. We have 10 to 12 returning rowers who could easily win spots in the Varsity 8+ and that does not include a couple of our newcomers who looked strong in the fall season." Topping the list of freshman rowers with a chance to make an upper level boat are Courtney Haia, Kathryn Kocarnik, Kelsey Koenig, Stephanie Murphy, Cory Nelson, Whitney Patrick and Julie Smetana. All had excellent fall seasons and are expected to challenge for a JV or Varsity spot. Guiding each of the boats this season will also be a battle as Gonzaga returns three experienced coxswains. Kris Lund, Erin Palmiter and Mimi Refuerzo all coxed various Varsity and Novice boats last season. Freshman Joan Aubry will start the season as the Novice coxswain but could challenge for a higher boat come championship racing in May. "We have a great returning class of coxswains who all have their individual strengths. Right now it is hard to say which personality will fit best with each boat, but they will all get a shot to win the Varsity cox spot," Putyrae stated. Facing Gonzaga for the 2005 season is a difficult schedule with a majority of the races on neutral courses. Gonzaga opens with a home regatta against the University of British Columbia. Following that GU will race at the WCC Challenge and NCRC Invitational. New to the Bulldogs schedule this season is the Knecht Cup in New Jersey which will expose the Bulldogs to several new opponents before defending their WCC title in early May.
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