Bulldog Rowers In WCC, WIRA Championships
5/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Crew
May 1, 2002
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University's men's and women's rowers enter the championship portion of their seasons, beginning Friday with the West Coast Conference Championship and continuing Saturday and Sunday with the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta.
Action all three days will be held on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif.
The Bulldog women seek their sixth straight WCC title - the only team to capture the crown since the inception of the championship - when five WCC squads begin competition at noon Friday. Joining the Bulldogs will be Loyola Marymount University, Saint Mary's College, the University of San Diego and Santa Clara University. USD has finished second four times, with SCU taking the other runner-up finish in the brief history of the WCC Championship.
The format will remain the same as it has the past three seasons. The Varsity Four with coxswain will row at noon, followed by the Second Varsity Eight with coxswain and concluding with the Varsity Eight with coxswain crews.
A point system determines the women's crown. The Varsity Eight race gives 15, 12, 9, 6 and 3 points to the boats in order of finish. The Second Varsity Eight is scaled 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and the points in the Varsity Four are awarded 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
In 1997 and 1998, the crown was determined solely by the result of the Varsity Eight race, with the current format adopted in 1999.
Six boats of WCC institutions that sponsor crew will hold a non-sponsored WCC Men's Championship on Friday. A single Varsity Eight race will be staged at 11 a.m.
The action turns to the WIRA Championship Saturday and Sunday. Gonzaga's men's Varsity Eight will row in heat two against UC Davis, Cal State Long Beach, Santa Clara, the University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University. Gonzaga defeated UC Davis by two seats in its last outing at Long Lake near Spokane two week's ago.
Gonzaga Director of Rowing and head men's coach Dan Gehn will go with the same makeup of his Varsity Eight boat that defeated UC Davis. Mara Oblak will be the coxswain, with Mark Voorhees, Mike Baisch, Brad Hughes, Jeff Kiely, Dave Johnson, Justin Toenes, Nat Hopper and Nathan Wilson rounding out the Varsity Eight.
"Any success we have will be earned," Gehn said. "We're the No. 2 seed (behind perennial power Orange Coast) and hopefully the momentum gained with the victory over UC Davis will carry over. The was a great race, and we know when you get to WIRA the competition is the among best we've faced all season."
The Bulldog women's Varsity Eight will also have the same makeup as the boat that defeated UC Davis. Courtney Haase will be the coxswain and will be joined by Nicole Lustig, Molly Gulsvig, Cynthia Savoca, Breah Neimiec, Jennie Gilpin, Maria Bokulich, Bridget Troy and Christine McKeown.
"We're getting fast at the right time," head women'/s coach Glenn Putyrae said following his team's 6:44.3 against UC Davis. "I think we're in good position for this weekend. We know LMU and USD will be tough on Friday. I think we got a good draw for WIRA."
The Bulldog women will be pitted against USD, UC Irvine, SCU and Humboldt State University in heat 1 of the Varsity Eight on Saturday.
In addition to the Varsity Eight boats at WIRA, Gonzaga will also have men's entries in Pair, Varsity Four and Second Varsity Eight, while the Bulldog women will also have entries in Novice Four, Varsity Four and Second Varsity Eight. The men's Second Varsity Four is seeded into Sunday's final because only six boats are entered. All other Gonzaga boats will compete in heats on Saturday.
Racing Saturday and Sunday begins at 8 a.m., with the Bulldog Women's Novice Four the first Gonzaga boat to compete at 8:20 a.m. on Saturday.
