The Moment Is Here; Zags Start NCAA Championship Friday
5/31/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
SPOKANE, Wash. -
ON TAP: The Gonzaga University women's rowing team heads into unchartered water this weekend, participating in the schools inaugural NCAA Championship. The 2013 NCAA Championship will be held May 31-June 2 at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, Ind. The Bulldogs - entering a Varsity 8+, Second Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ boat, will begin racing Friday with their 8:10 a.m. Varsity 8+ heat.
THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD: Gonzaga University women's rowing is one of 22 institutions to earn a berth into the NCAA Championship, and one of 11 to earn an automatic berth. In addition to Gonzaga, Boston University (Colonial), Princeton (Ivy), Marist (MAAC), Navy (Patriot), Notre Dame (Big East), Ohio State (Big Ten), Oklahoma (Conference USA), Rhode Island (Atlantic 10), Virginia (ACC) and USC (Pac-12) all earned automatic qualifiers from their conferences. The 11 schools that earned at-large selections were Brown, California, Cornell, Harvard, Michigan, Stanford, UCLA, Washington, Washington State, Wisconsin and Yale. As a team, Gonzaga has raced three teams that are in the field; Navy, UCLA and Washington State.
LIVE STREAMING AVAILABLE AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: Video streaming of the NCAA Championship, as well as live results, will be available at NCAA.com.
WEST COAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP: It was a historic day for Gonzaga University. The Bulldog women's rowing team not only won their 13th West Coast Conference Championship May 18 but earned the conferences and schools inaugural automatic berth to the NCAA Championship with their four-point victory over the University of San Diego. The Zags win broke the Toreros three-year reign and gave GU their first crown since 2009. The championship title came down to the last race of the day, and the Gonzaga Varsity 8+ crew outlasted San Diego by 1.3 seconds to take back the Conference crown.
GONZAGA ROWING ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK: You can instant results for the NCAA Championship by following Gonzaga University women's rowing on Twitter and Facebook. The Bulldogs twitter handle is www.twitter.com/zagsrowing and click here to like their Facebook page.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE:
Friday, May 31 (ALL TIMES EASTERN TIME ZONE)
8:10 a.m. - Varsity 8+ Heat 4 | 8:40 a.m. - Second Varsity 8+ Heat 3 | 9:30 a.m. - Varsity 4+ Heat 4 | 11:20 p.m. - Varsity 8+ Repechage 1 |
Saturday, June 1 | Sunday, June 2 10:40 a.m. - Varsity 8+ Petite Final (places 7-12) |
GONZAGA HEAD COACH GLENN PUTYRAE ON THE UPCOMING NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: "We have been fortunate to be able to experience the trademark conditions on the course the last few days and all our crews are ready to take their experience to the starting line and compete with the best collegiate rowers in the country."
GONZAGA ASSISTANT COACH KARI DURGAN ON THE SECOND VARSITY 8+ BOAT: "The Second Varsity 8+'s approach to this weekend's racing is exactly what they need: focused and determined, but also excited to enjoy the experience and race to their best ability. It's been a great couple of weeks continuing to move forward with this group, and I am really looking forward to watching them perform."
GONZAGA ASSISTANT COACH MARCI ROBLES ON THE VARSITY 4+ BOAT: "We're so excited to be here. It's going to be a challenging weekend but we're looking forward to racing the fastest crews in the country."
GONZAGA LINEUPS:
Varsity 8+: Naseeb Bhangal, Maomi Medley, Devyn Bell, Kara Soucek, Brooklyn Beeler, Malori McGill, Casey Burt, Madison Keaty, Christine Powers.
Second Varsity 8+: Jordan Schroeder, Sarah Atkins, Natalie Potts, Erin Russell Renee Wyman, Lily Rorick, Jordan Davies, Christy Mentele, Becca Beniot.
Varsity 4+: Laura Brasch, Wendy Wigg, Ingrid Stansberry, Madeleine Verspieren, Alyssa Bashor.
