SPOKANE, Wash. --  The Gonzaga women's rowing team heads to the West Coast Conference Championships to defend their title this Friday and Saturday, May 16-17. The race takes place on Lake Natoma in Sacramento, Calif.

The Zags have historically been dominant at the championships, winning the last nine championships and 22 in program history. The team was picked to finish second in the conference in the preseason coaches polls, only behind nationally ranked Oregon State. 

This year will feature new schools in the competition including Oregon State and Washington State. The whole field also includes Creighton, Portland, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, San Diego and Santa Clara.

This championship is also different because the races take place over a course of two days instead of the usual one. On Friday, races begin at 8:30 a.m. with the first head of the 2V4 races. The day concludes at 10:15 a.m. with the second heat of the 1V8 boats.

The second day starts at 8 a.m. with the 2V4 Petite Final. The last race of the day is the 1V8 Grand Final at 9: 45 a.m. 

The live stream of the races on Saturday can be found on ESPN+ (LINK). Full results can also be found HERE.

LINEUPS
1V Eight 
Cox: Lula Macey
Stroke: Katie Sierhuis
7: Isabella Barstow
6: Amanda Triebensee
5: Edie Benson
4: Molly Hess
3: Camille Ruhlin-Hicks
2: Cassidy Parr
Bow: Ella Beck

2V Eight
Cox: Ava Beekman
Stroke: Marjane Rivat
7: Katie Hill
6: Sam Sabin
5: Leah Manzo-McCottry
4: Maddie Reed
3: Chloe Breznikar
2: Jenna Kleckler 
Bow: Ines Marquez

I Four
Cox: G Consiglio
Stroke: Kat Ward
3: Hazel Gaston
2: Rory Taylor
Bow: Kana Barlag

II Four
Cox: KD Ramirez
Stroke: Ella Bolt
3: Isabella Romain
2: Grace Hare
Bow: Lia Brackney

III Four
Cox: Maddie McPhillips
Stroke: Lauren Royce
3: Jenna Gilberg
2: Lucy Coyle
Bow: Greta Kramer 

LAST TIME AT WCC CHAMPIONSHIPS (May 18, 2024)
LAKE NATOMA, Calif. – For the ninth straight season and 22nd time overall, the Gonzaga women's rowing team are West Coast Conference Champions.
 
The Bulldogs placed first in almost every race and finished the day with 40 team points. San Diego took second with 38 points.

"Really proud of this team as people and as racers," head coach Andrew Derrick said. "Top to bottom they did a great job representing our program. I know the 2v8 is a little upset with their performance, but that's just because of the standard they expect of themselves, we are super proud of all of them. It's a really fun group and looking forward to taking them to Cincinnati to represent Gonzaga and all the WCC programs."

The first race of the day was the 2V4 competition, where Gonzaga had two boats competing. The A boat took first with a time of 7:48.260, dominating the race from start to finish. The B boat for the Zags placed second with a time of 8:00.709, and also held that spot for the whole race.

The 1V4 race was next up where the Zags also placed first with a time of 7:30.180. The Bulldogs started off a couple seats ahead of San Diego and pulled ahead and never looked back, defeating USD by 26 seconds.

"It was awesome to see the depth of our program today," senior Mollie Monson said. "To see our fours come out so strong is a testament to the work we've put in this whole season to develop speed in to the bottom half of our team. We're excited about how today turned out but the jobs not finished and we look forward to building off of this experience as we look towards NCAAs next week."

In the third race of the day, the 2V8 boat placed second with a time of 6:52.390, right behind San Diego's first-place finish of 6:51.390. The Zags and USD battled down the stretch and had a photo finish as the two boats were neck-and-neck down the whole racecourse and especially in the last 500 meters.

The final race of the day was the 1V8 boat, where Gonzaga dominated with a first-place finish of 6:38.800, which was 12 seconds ahead of second-place San Diego. Gonzaga started the race out front and really pulled ahead to an open water race as they did not let up at any point during the competition.

"The conference win today is a product of the work of our amazing coaching staff and teammates," Hannah Cooney said. "Our team's tradition of excellence is built every day as we push each other to be better. I cannot wait to see the team continue to grow over the coming years!"

After the races, the conference handed out conference honors with Hannah Cooney, Amanda Triebensee, Camille Ruhlin-Hicks and Ella Beck being All-WCC. Lula Macey won the coxswain of the year and Hannah Cooney won rower of the year. Andrew Derrick was also tabbed as coach of the year for the second-straight season.