SAN BRUNO, Calif. - The Gonzaga varsity eight crew has been named the West Coast Conference Crew of the Month for the month of April, the conference office announced Wednesday.

The crew of Alexa Jadallah, Lindey English, Olivia Marsh, Isabelle Belzil, Lauren English, Meghan McCallum, Micailah Donner, Caroline Maguire, and Olivia Lada defeated Oregon State and competed in the Lake Natoma Invitational and Clemson Invitational in the month. The seat order changed prior to the Clemson Invitational, but the names remained the same throughout the month.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs, receiving votes in the CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll throughout the month, opened April with a nine-second win over Oregon State at home at Silver Lake on April 1 with a time of 6:33.1. The Bulldogs exploded through the middle 1000 meters to row past the Beavers while battling a 13 mph cross tailwind.

GU traveled to the prestigious Lake Natoma Invitational April 8-9 just outside of Sacramento. They opened the regatta finishing second in their first heat, beating Clemson by 11 seconds at 6:29.30 against a variable cross headwind of 9-10 mph. They followed in their second heat with their fastest time of the spring at 6:25.62 beating Boston University by 17 seconds, and only five seconds back of No. 9 Brown this time with a variable cross to cross headwind of 4-5 mph. On Sunday, the Zags took home the victory at 6:35.35 beating (RV) Central Florida and Notre Dame even with an increasing 3-4 mph headwind.

GU then traveled across the country to the Clemson Invitational on April 22-23. The Bulldogs took sixth in their first race at 6:38.397, a second faster than host Clemson and a second back of Tennessee with just light variable winds of 4-5 mph. In the afternoon, they took fifth in their second heat, finishing at 6:34.828, coming in ahead of Oregon State and Navy, and just a second behind No. 19 Duke with a tailwind of 14 mph. On Sunday, the Zags grabbed another victory, taking first in the C Final, again beating second-place Navy and third-place Oregon State in great conditions, battling a small 5 mph headwind through the first 1500 meters.

"What an honor," Gonzaga head coach Glenn Putyrae said. "April was a bit uneven, as a crew the varsity eight was encouraged by their results at the Lake Natoma Invitational and disappointed not to be able to back them up at the Clemson Invitational. Overall though, this recognition is a testament to the strength of our schedule this past month."

In the latest April varsity eight cMax Rankings, GU is 26th, and was as high as 16th in the middle of the month. The Bulldogs did not compete in any of the same events as any other West Coast Conference school during the month.

The Zags are pursuing their third-straight West Coast Conference Championship and 16th overall as they travel to Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif. on Saturday for the 2017 WCC Championships.