SEATTLE, Wash. -- The Gonzaga women's rowing team wrapped up the fall season at the Head of the Lake on Sunday.

In the highly competitive Champ Women's 8+ category, the 1V8 crew clinched 4th place with a time of 16:59.432, narrowly finishing ahead of Washington State's 1V8 by just 0.401 seconds, by a time of 16:59.824.

"I think we had great improvement from Head of the Spokane," Lula Macey said. We did a really good job of sticking to the changes we were trying to make. It helped us to see the areas for growth and we are ready to put in the work during the winter to destroy it in the spring!"2v8 Race 

In the Women's Collegiate JV 8+, the 2V8 crew earned a strong 2nd place finish with a time of 17:42.078, coming in behind Washington State, who finished with a time of 17:17.880.

"I think we had a good race and we did a good job with staying calm and keeping our ratio throughout the race," Chloe Breznikar said. "We came out with intensity and passed Lewis and Clark within the first 500 meters which was fun to see. I'm excited to see the speed we are going to gain through winter going into the spring season"

"I am proud of the effort," head coach Andy Derrick said. "I think our coxswains did a great job, especially having not been on the course before racing. Both boats made some good progress, but definitely some work to be done before the spring to meet our standards and goals"

As the team looks forward to the winter training season, their focus remains on building on these achievements and striving for excellence in the upcoming spring competitions as they competed against some of the best crews in the region. The fall racing season has proven to be a valuable learning experience, and the team is eager to carry this momentum into their winter training, setting ambitious goals for the upcoming spring competitions.