Bulldogs Focus Attention On WIRA Championships
5/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Crew
May 1, 2009
SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University men's rowing team heads to Lake Natoma in Sacramento, Calif., to compete in this weekend's Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships. The Zags, who will enter boats in the Varsity 8+, Junior Varsity 8+ and Novice 8+, earned silver in both the Varsity 8+ and Novice 8+ and earned a bronze in the Junior Varsity 8+ a season ago.
"The WIRA's has good speed in it this year," stated head coach Dan Gehn about the upcoming competition. "Our athletes are highly motivated to race the championships."
The Bulldog Varsity 8+ will compete in the first of three heats on Saturday morning. Also racing in the Gonzaga heat, which is slated for 11:20 a.m., is Sacramento State, Orange Coast College, Sonoma State University, and Long Beach State University. The top two boats from each heat race advances to Sunday's Grand Final at Noon.
The Junior Varsity 8+ will also compete in the first of its two heats, beginning at 10 a.m. The Zags will face off against the University of San Diego, Loyola Marymount University and Santa Clara University. The top three boats from each heat advance to Sunday's Grand Final at 11 a.m.
The Novice 8+ is set to race in the second of two heats, starting at 2 p.m. The Bulldogs will be pitted against UC San Diego, San Diego, UC Davis, Long Beach State and University of Puget Sound. Again, the top three boats from each heat advances to Sunday's Grand Final which is slated for 10:10 a.m.
This championship is even more important this season as there are three qualifying spots in the IRA National Championships on the line. If the Varsity 8+ finishes in the top three on Sunday it will automatically earn a spot in the National Championships June 4-6. Also, if the Varsity 8+ does finish in the top three, and the Junior Varsity 8+ and Freshman 8+ win gold at the WIRA's they also would earn an automatic berth into the IRA's.
Heat Racing Schedule for WIRA Championships
(Lake Natoma, Sacramento, Calif. - Saturday, May 2-Sunday, May 3)
Junior Varsity 8+ (10:00 a.m. - Heat 1)
Lane 1 - Gonzaga
Lane 2 - UC Irvine
Lane 3 - UC Davis
Lane 4 - Loyola Marymount
Lane 5 - Sacramento State
Varsity 8+ (11:20 a.m. - Heat 1)
Lane 1 - Gonzaga
Lane 2 - Sacramento State
Lane 3 - Orange Coast
Lane 4 - Sonoma State
Lane 5 - Long Beach State
Novice 8+ (2:00 p.m. - Heat 2)
Lane 1 - Gonzaga
Lane 2 - UC San Diego
Lane 3 - San Diego
Lane 4 - UC Davis
Lane 5 - Long Beach State
Lane 6 - Puget Sound
Lineups for WIRA's:
Varsity 8+: Alex Chalk, Greg Malman, Brendan McCarthy, Andrew Krug, Pat Swihart, Benjamin Schwarz, Matt White, Mike Anderson, Connor Wege.
Junior Varsity 8+: Sean Finerty, Neil Coppinger, Pat Moran, Julian Stefanski, Will Griffith, Brian Franceschi, KC Anderson, Nick Willard, Sean Ryan.
Novice 8+: Chris Light, Connor Murphy, Jeremy Lazzara, Colt Kesselring, Marc Bales, Sam Freedgood, Jake Avella, Tyler Mendiola, Scott Selfridge.
