Gold River, Calif. - The Gonzaga women's rowing team held strong against top-5 programs Saturday at the Lake Natoma Invitational in Gold River, Calif.
In three-team races against No. 2 Brown and Sacramento State in the morning session, the Zags notched second-place finishes in the Varsity 8+ and Second Varsity 8+, third place in the Varsity 4+ and fourth in the Second Varsity 4+.
"Our coaching staff and crews felt like they took some good steps forward today," head coach Glenn Putyrae said. "We were really excited to have such a good competitive race with Brown in the morning. But I think we were even more excited to see the progress that we made across the board. Our ladies were able to learn from each race as well as watching how some of the nation's best do it."
The Gonzaga Varsity 8+ group of Karly Dougherty, Kara Soucek, Ingrid Stansberry, Isabelle Belzil, Devyn Bell, Brooklyn Beeler, Maddie Turbes, Casey Burt and Olivia Marsh kept pace with Brown while pulling away from Sac State with a time of 6:27.20. GU was just 4.2 second behind the Bears, but 25 ahead of the Hornets.
In the Second Varsity 8+, the team of Heather Handy, Ashley Patterson, Clare Manthey, Alexis Legaspi, Meghan McCallum, Anna Johnson, Madeleine Verspieren, Micailah Donner and Hannah Brown turned in a time of 6:49.10, four seconds ahead of Sac St. for second place.
In the Varsity 4+, the Zag crew of Laura Brasch, Megan Carroll, Lily Rorick, Emma Watanabe and Hannah Schneiderman placed third with a time of 7:39.5, while the Second Varsity 4+ team of Hailey Rousseau, Amelie Tristant, Natalie Potts, Megan Kramer and Shaylee Kieffer was fourth at 8:01.0.
The Zags put together a solid afternoon as well, battling No. 3 Cal and LMU across three boats. In the Varsity 8+ race, Gonzaga came in second behind Cal with a time of 6:45.1, 12 seconds ahead of LMU. In the Second Varsity 8+, the Zags equaled with a second-place finish in a time of 7:06.2 ahead of LMU and behind Cal. The Third Varsity 8+ made a slight lineup change from the morning session inserting Watanabe in stroke and Schneiderman in seat 7, and moving Jones to seat 4. That crew turned in a time of 7:19.3 to finish second behind Cal.
In the Varsity 4+, Potts and Kramer joined Brasch, Rorick and Carroll for the afternoon session, helping the team to a second-place finish in a time of 7:54.1. In the Second Varsity 4+, Schneiderman and Watanabe joined Rousseau, Tristant and Kramer to place second behind San Diego by just 1.1 seconds with a time of 7:49.1.
The regatta will wrap up Sunday with Gonzaga facing defending WCC champ San Diego and Notre Dame across the Varsity 4+, Varsity 8+ and Second Varsity 8+ boats. It starts for the Zags at 8:30 a.m. with the Varsity 4+.
The 2,000-meter race course takes place on Lake Natoma just outside of Sacramento, Calif., along the American River.
Date | Time (PT) | Race | Opponent |
Sun. Apr. 12 | 8:30 a.m. | Varsity 4 | San Diego, Notre Dame |
| 9:00 a.m. | Second Varsity 8 | San Diego, Notre Dame |
| 9:35 a.m. | Varsity 8 | San Diego, Notre Dame |
Gonzaga Women
Varsity 8+ - Karly Dougherty, Kara Soucek, Ingrid Stansberry, Isabelle Belzil, Devyn Bell, Brooklyn Beeler, Maddie Turbes, Casey Burt, Olivia Marsh
Second Varsity 8+ - Heather Handy, Ashley Patterson, Clare Manthey, Alexis Legaspi, Meghan McCallum, Anna Johnson, Madeleine Verspieren, Micailah Donner, Hannah Brown
Third Varsity 8+ - Hailey Rousseau, Hayley Jones, Natalie Potts, Megan Kramer, Madison Spina, Cheryl Murbach, Shaylee Kiefer, Amelie Tristant, Megan Seifert (Afternoon: Watanabe in stroke, Schneiderman in 7, Jones in 4)
Varsity 4+ - Laura Brasch, Megan Carroll, Lily Rorick, Emma Watanabe, Hannah Schneiderman (afternoon: Potts in stroke, Kramer in bow)
Second Varsity 4 - Hailey Rousseau, Amelie Tristant, Natalie Potts, Megan Kramer, Shaylee Kieffer (Afternoon: Schneiderman in stroke, Watanabe in bow)
