Gonzaga University
WCC/PCRC Championships
NCAAs Next! WROW Wins WCC Title, Earns NCAA Berth
5/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gonzaga's 17th-ranked women's rowing team came through in the clutch to win the eventual tie-breaking Varsity 8 race and propel the team to its third West Coast Conference title in the last four seasons on Saturday in Sacramento, Calif.
After placing second in both the Varsity 4 and Second Varsity 8 races, Gonzaga entered the Varsity 8 race where only a victory would secure them the league title. GU trailed league-rival San Diego 21 to 18 in the overall points, but knew a victory in the Varsity 8 would tie them with USD at 39 each and give them the WCC championship in tie-breaking fashion for the second straight year.
"Overall, it was an exciting day to have another chance at the national meet," head coach Glenn Putyrae said. "It was a lot of pressure to put on the Varsity 8, but they stepped up to the challenge and got the job done. We've earned an opportunity to spend more time together to train and get faster as a team."
Gonzaga also swept the individual awards with Kara Soucek earning Rower of the Year honors for the second straight year, Karly Dougherty winning Coxswain of the Year honors for the second straight year and Lauren English earning Newcomer of the Year honors. Head coach Glenn Putyrae was also named Coach of the Year for the second straight year. In addition, Soucek, Brooklyn Beeler, Devyn Bell and Ingrid Stansberry were named All-WCC.
The GU V8 led most of the final race of the day and held off the Toreros down the stretch with a strong finish to earn the race victory by just under four seconds with a time of 6:25.8.
In the 2V8, USD got out to a big lead, but with 500 meters to go Gonzaga began to close the gap only to come up just short. The Toreros held on at the finish for a tight two-second win with a time of 6:40.9 to GU's 6:42.9.
The Varsity 4 boats started out the day with San Diego taking a nine-second win over Gonzaga with a time of 7:18.9. The Zags finished in a time of 7:28.2.
The Second Varsity 4 finished second within one length of San Diego to wrap up the day. GU came through in a time of 7:28.6 behind USD's 7:26.9.
Next up for the Zags is the NCAA Championships back on the same water of Lake Natoma in two weeks. GU will look to improve upon its program-best 17th-place finish last season.
WCC Overall Results (points)
1. Gonzaga (39 points), 2. San Diego (39), LMU (27), Portland (22), Saint Mary's (22), Creighton (13), Santa Clara (5)
2016 WCC Individual Award Recipients
Coach of the Year: Glenn Putyrae, Gonzaga
Rower of the Year: Kara Soucek, Gonzaga
Coxswain of the Year: Karly Dougherty, Gonzaga
Newcomer of the Year: Lauren English, Gonzaga
2016 All-West Coast Conference Women's Rowing Team
Creighton: Sarah Birnbaum, Madeline Eyer
Gonzaga: Kara Soucek, Devyn Bell, Brooklyn Beeler, Ingrid Stansberry
Loyola Marymount: Ruth Morris, Mireia Ros
Portland: Molly Templin, Maggie Keller
Saint Mary's: Brianna Pero, Alexis McGuire
San Diego: Avalon Koenig, Megan McNamara, Uche Anyanwu
Santa Clara: Molly Walker, Katie Bond
Gonzaga Lineups
Varsity 8 - Karly Dougherty, Kara Soucek, Ingrid Stansberry, Meghan McCallum, Devyn Bell, Lauren English, Brooklyn Beeler, Olivia Marsh, Lindey English
Second Varsity 8 - Hailey Rousseau, Micailah Donner, Lily Rorick, Hannah Schneiderman, Maddie Turbes, Anna Johnson, Madeleine Verspieren, Isabelle Belzil, Hannah Brown
Varsity 4 - Megan Dennison, Casey Harder, Cameron McDermott, Georgia Davey, Clare Manthey
Second Varsity 4- Marie Hayman, Shaylee Kieffer, Olivia Lada, Megan Seifert, Amelie Tristant
