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Men's Novice 4 Finishes Second; Women's Varsity Pair Wins Event
GOLD RIVER, Calif. - Men's and Women's crew
concluded their 2009 season at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing
Association Championships hosted by Sacramento State on May 3. The
men's novice 4 finished the championships in second place, while
the women's varsity pair became the first women's team at Lewis
& Clark to win or place at a WIRA event. The championships also
marked the first time that the Pioneers have had two teams medal at
the WIRA Championships.
The women's varsity 8 finished third in their petite final, to
finish the championships ninth overall in the DII/III/Club Varsity
8 event. The men's varsity 4 grabbed first place in their petite
final to end the day seventh overall.
Coach Sam Taylor comments:
"Despite very unseasonable Sacramento conditions and pouring rain
all weekend we had some really excellent races. Our men's team kept
their momentum from conference and both varsity and novice men's
fours raced spectacular pieces every time they went down the
course. The Novice men were gunning for the win but got out-muscled
by Orange Coast; I'd say our guys were the class of the field in
terms of aggressive racing and wonderful rowing. Our Varsity men's
4 rowed two very gutsy pieces back-to-back, first just missing out
on the final and an hour and a half later sprinting from behind to
grab the petite final win and seventh overall by just a couple of
feet.
The women's eight also had a strong heat race and established a
good rhythm going into the petite final. We came down the course
going stroke-for-stroke with UCSD and managed to bump it up and put
them away in the last twenty strokes for 3rd in the race and 9th
overall. The pair took a strong win in their heat and then powered
through the final for the win despite a strong challenge from PLU;
it was our first ever women's boat to place at WIRA and it's nice
to be on the top step of the podium to start things off.
Overall a good way to end the season and I can't say enough about
this group of athletes. We have some excellent momentum going into
next fall and I'm already missing my time on the water."
