SPOKANE, Wash. -- For the first time since 2015-16, the Gonzaga women's rowing team won the Fawley Cup versus Washington State. This marks GU's fourth overall Fawley Cup win in program history.

"It was a great day for our program!" head coach Andrew Derrick said. "The whole team showed up ready to race and we are super proud of them. So happy our seniors snagged a Fawley Cup before they graduate, but they know we still have some more great racing this season before they do! Thanks to WSU for making the trip…. Always great racing!!"

The highlight of the day was the 1V8 race where the Zags had a dominating performance against the Cougs. At the beginning of the race, GU had a five seat lead over WSU. They continued to maintain their lead at the 500 meter mark before Washington State made some moves to go back and forth. At the 1,000 meter mark, the Bulldogs had a three seat lead and kept an impressive pace over the Cougs. With 400 meters remaining, Gonzaga still had a lead with half a boat length. With 10 strokes remaining, WSU kept it close but the Zags maintained thehalf boat lead to take the victory. GU finished the race in  6:35.75 with a seven second margin of victory over Washington State,  6:41.12.

In the first race of the day, GU's 3V8 and 4V8 boat raced Washington States and took first and second place. The Bulldogs had a lead at the 500 meter mark and kept up the pace with four boat lengths ahead of WSU. The 4V8 boat was ahead by two seats against the 4V8 as the 3V8 finished first in 7:13.5 and the 4V8 finished in 7:18.8. WSU's best time in the same race was the 3V8's 7:36.81.

The second race of the day featured the 1V4 boats. The Zags opened up the race with an open water lead at 700 meters. With 500 meters remaining in the race, GU had a boat length lead. Gonzaga held the lead until the end to finish first with a time of  7:35.95, ahead of WSU's 7:42.77.

In the 2V4 race, the Zags started the race with a three seat lead.  At the 500 meter mark, the Bulldogs had six feet of open water over Washington State before WSU made a push at 1,000 meters. The Cougs took a two seat lead with 250 meters remaining and placed first 7:40.4 as GU took second with a time of 7:42.4.

The fourth race of the day included the 2V8 boats. At the 500 meter mark, Gonzaga had a boat length lead and maintained it. They closed out the race with a push at the end with 10 strokes remaining to place ahead of WSU by 10 seconds. The Bulldogs finished in  6:41.79, compared to Washington State's  6:51.29.

The 3V4 race saw another tight race was Gonzaga had a lead at the 1,000 meter mark. The Bulldogs kept pushing ahead and maintained a multiple seat lead to take the victory with a time of 8:07.67 compared to WSU's 8:25.24.

The last race of the day featured the Open Eight races. Gonzaga's 5V8 boat finished first with a time of 7:18.94. GU's 4V8 boat also placed ahead of Washington State with a time of  7:26.38 as WSU finished in  8:03.06.