Complete Results

GOLD RIVER, Calif. - The Gonzaga Women's Rowing team took the West Coast Conference title in a tiebreaker with San Diego on Saturday on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif.

The Zags and Toreros battled at the top of each of the three boat classes, and even though USD won the Varsity 4+ and Second Varsity 8+, GU's victory in the Varsity 8+ boat tied the point totals and served as the tiebreaker. The win gives Gonzaga its second berth to the NCAA Championships in the last three seasons and marks the third straight year that the Zags and Toreros finished first and second in the seven-team league.

"We feel like our team on the whole has made a lot of progress this season, and today we felt like we saw that improvement on all of our boats," head coach Glenn Putyrae said. "We are excited to know we are going back to the NCAAs, but we feel like we still have room to grow."

In addition to the team title, Gonzaga also swept the conference's major individual awards. Junior Kara Soucek was named the WCC Rower of the Year, freshman Karly Dougherty was named WCC Coxswain of the Year, freshman Isabelle Belzil was named WCC Newcomer of the Year and head coach Glenn Putyrae was named WCC Coach of the Year. The trio of student-athletes all compete on the Zags' Varsity 8+ boat that propelled the team to a win.

"Anytime you are recognized by the schools and coaches you race against, its validation of what you've done all year," Putyrae said.

A conference-best four Zags were also named to the WCC All-Conference Rowing Team, including Devyn Bell, Brooklyn Beeler, Maddie Turbes and Soucek.

Gonzaga's V4+ boat of Laura Brasch, Ashley Patterson, Natalie Potts, Amelie Tristant and Shaylee Kieffer finished second to open the day. Their time of 7:27.2 was just 1.3 second behind San Diego. The 2V8+ crew of Heather Handy, Naomi Medley, Clare Manthey, Anna Johnson, Meghan McCallum, Cheryl Murbach, Madeleine Verspieren, Lily Rorick and Hannah Brown followed suit with another second-place finish to put GU in position to win the automatic NCAA berth with a victory in the last race of the day: the V8+.

Dougherty, Soucek, Belzil, Bell, Beeler and Turbes were joined by Ingrid Stansberry, Casey Burt and Olivia Marsh to round out the victorious V8+ lineup. That crew defeated the second-place Toreros by 4.4 seconds with a time of 6:22.5.

"One of the things we've focused on this year is to show respect to our competition by going as fast as we can, and we feel like each boat came off the water today having done that," Putyrae said.

Gonzaga will be back on the same water at Lake Natoma for the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships in two weeks on May 29-31.

2015 West Coast Conference Rowing Championship

Final Team Totals

1. Gonzaga - 39 Points*

2. San Diego - 39 Points*

3. Loyola Marymount - 28 Points

4. Saint Mary's - 25 Points

5. Portland - 19 Points

6. Santa Clara - 10 Points

7. Creighton - 8 Points

*Gonzaga wins tiebreaker due to victory in the I Eight Race

2015 West Coast Conference Women's Rowing Major Awards

WCC Newcomer of the Year: Isabelle Belzil, Gonzaga

WCC Coxswain of the Year: Karly Dougherty, Gonzaga

WCC Rower of the Year: Kara Soucek, Gonzaga

WCC Coach of the Year: Glenn Putyrae, Gonzaga

2015 All-West Coast Conference Women's Rowing Team

Creighton: Sarah Birnbaum, Anne Mari Stonikas

Gonzaga: Devyn Bell, Brooklyn Beeler, Maddie Turbes, Kara Soucek

Loyola Marymount: Toni Boteva, Louisa Del Valle

Portland: Kelly Herman, Claire Seibold

Saint Mary's: Sharyl Koenig, Claire Ochsner

San Diego: Nneka Anyanwu, Mary Jo Keys, Christina Morcom

Santa Clara: Brittany Peters, Molly Walker