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Varsity Crews Head To San Diego Crew Classic
April 1, 2004 SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University men's and women's varsity crews head to the 2004 San Diego Crew Classic with two goals in mind - the men to defend their 2003 Cal Cup Championship, the women to improve upon a 6th place finish in last year's Cal Cup Grand Final. Racing starts on Saturday morning on Mission Bay with Grand, Petite and 3rd Final races set for Sunday. "We definitely have a good chance to defend our title down in San Diego this year," stated men's varsity head coach and Gonzaga director of rowing Dan Gehn. "The field is very tough this year and we will have our work cut out for us with four novice rowers in our varsity boat. Our goal is to row a good piece in the Saturday heat and advance to the Grand Final to hopefully get another shot at Orange Coast College." OCC knocked off the Bulldogs by six seconds two weeks ago when the schools met at the WCC Challenge in Redwood Shores, Calif. The Bulldogs, Orange Coast College and USC have all been selected as No. 1 seeds in their respective heats for Saturday's heat competition. Also racing in Gonzaga's heat are the University of Minnesota, UC San Diego, Santa Clara University, Loyola Marymount University and Saint Mary's College. The top two boats in each of Saturday's heats advance to Sunday's Grand Final with the third and fourth place finishes slated for the Petite Final and fifth and sixth place racing in Sunday's 3rd Final. Gonzaga's men's varsity boat will retain the same line-up that helped the Bulldogs post a 3-1 record at the WCC Challenge. Gonzaga's varsity men's boat will consist of coxswain Mara Oblak, stroke Mark Voorhees, Pat Haffey, Max Malotky, Nathan Wilson, Matthew Wernette, Derek Clemmensen, Connor Barry and bow David Hinshaw. On the women's side Gonzaga has been seeded third in its Saturday morning heat with Kansas State University and Loyola Marymount sitting ahead of the Zags as No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. Also competing in Gonzaga heat with be the Naval Academy, Saint Joseph's University, UC Irvine and Colgate. Clemson University and UCLA garnered the other No. 1 seeds in Saturday's Cal Cup heats. "We have a very tough heat to open up racing against on Saturday morning," mentioned women's varsity head coach Glenn Putyrae. "Kansas State, Navy and Saint Joseph's have all been impressive in past races and we have already faced LMU and realize they are the WCC team to beat right now. This is a good test for our team to see where we stack up for this early in the year. Our goal is to get a good start in the heat race and hopefully advance to Sunday's Grand Final." The women's format for advancing to the Grand Final, Petite Final and 3rd Final will hold the same as for the men with the exception of teams that finish seventh in Saturday's heat races will not compete on Sunday afternoon, only the top six boats in each heat move onto Sunday's Finals. Gonzaga's varsity boat will be made up of coxswain Courtney Serpa, stroke Kari Durgan, Carolyn Schepper, Maria Bokulich, Jessica Kocarnik, Kristi Aamodt, Karen O'Hagan, Jenni Cooper, and bow Mariah Smith-Miloff.
Following racing action in San Diego, Gonzaga will return home for the first of two home regattas against Western Washington University and UC Davis. Both home regattas will take place at Silver Lake on April 10 and April 17. Gonzaga's women will also have a home regatta against Saint Mary's on April 18.
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