Crew Looks To Defend WCC & WIRA Titles
4/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Crew
April 30, 2003
SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University men's and women's crews head to Sacremento, Calif., this weekend as they each looked to defend their West Coast Conference titles on Friday afternoon before competing in the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships on Saturday and Sunday at Lake Natoma.
The Bulldog men are back to defend their WCC title which has become an unofficial championship for the men as six of the eight WCC schools have men's varsity eight boats competing in the event. Last season Gonzaga won the inaugural event with a four-second win over Santa Clara.
"I think this is a great event for the school's in our conference to showcase their rowing men's rowing program's and to see where they stack up against the other WCC schools," said men's head coach Dan Gehn. "We have been rowing really well this season but schools like Santa Clara and San Diego have also had some successful races this year. It should be an exciting race to watch."
The men's varsity eight will consist of coxswain Elaine Parry, Mark Voorhees, Pat Haffey, Connor Barry, Nathan Wilson, Ben Foley, Jeff Kiely, Brad Hughes and Mike Baisch. That line-up has been successful over the past few weeks with a first-place finish at the San Diego Crew Classic Cal Cup Regatta and head-to-head wins over San Diego, Santa Clara, Sacramento State and Western Washington.
The Zags women are in search of their seventh consecutive WCC championship as they are the only team to ever win the title after the conference started hosting a championship in 1997. The Bulldogs are seeded third heading into the event after losing to the University of San Diego and Loyola Marymount University at the San Diego Crew Classic.
"I like the challenge that lies ahead of our team," stated women's head coach Glenn Putyrae. "This is the first year we have really entered the WCC's as an underdog and all three of our boats will have their work cut out for them if we are to win the championship this year. It also says something about the improvement of our conference from a rowing stand point when the top three boats in the WIRA's are all WCC crews."
The women's varsity eight will consist of coxswain Courtney Haase, Cynthia Savoca, Maria Bokulich, Renee Holl, Jenifer Gehlsen, Breah Neimiec, Karen O'Hagan, Kristi Aamodt and Bridget Troy. Bokulich, Niemiec and Haase all earned All-WCC honors last season as Gonzaga won its sixth WCC rowing title.
On Saturday the Gonzaga women will look to defend their 2002 WIRA title as they enter the event seeded third. Gonzaga finished second in the event in 2001 and will face their toughest competitor from the last two years, Sacramento State, in their Saturday heat race. SSU won the 2001 race before finishing second last season.
Gonzaga's men have drawn the number two overall seed in their Saturday heat race and will face WCC members Santa Clara and San Diego in their race. UC Davis and Orange Coast College also earned No. 1 seeds for the event.
In addition to Varsity 8 racing at the WIRA Championships, Gonzaga also has boats entered in the women's novice four, men's varsity pair, women's varsity four, men's varsity four, women's junior varsity eight and men's junior varsity eight.
