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Crew Heads To WCC/WIRA Championships
April 28, 2004 SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University men's and women's crew will head to Sacramento, Calif., this weekend for three days of championship racing as they compete in the West Coast Conference Championships on Friday followed by the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships on Saturday and Sunday. The Gonzaga women will be looking to secure their eighth straight WCC title on Friday afternoon while the men will be rowing for their third straight un-official WCC crown. Both teams will also strive to move up in the WIRA Championships after both varsity crews picked up second place finishes in 2003. Racing will take place at the Sacramento State University Aquatic Center on 2,000 meter Lake Natoma course. Gonzaga's women will open the weekend looking to defend their WCC title and take home the crown for the eighth straight year. The Bulldogs will once again have their work cut out for them as Loyola Marymount will be one of the top crews in the event having already defeated Gonzaga in a head-to-head race. The WCC event will include races in the varsity eight, junior varsity eight and varsity four. Points are awarded for each race with the varsity eight race counting for the greatest number of points and serving as the tie-breaker if two schools were to tie for the overall point total. Gonzaga is the only school to have ever won the WCC title in the previous seven years of the conference hosting the championship. The women's varsity crew will include coxswain Courtney Serpa, stroke Maria Bokulich, Carolyn Schepper, Kari Durgan, Jessica Kocarnik, Kristi Aamodt, Karen O'Hagan, Nicole Aadland-Lewis and bow Heather Jewell. The junior varsity eight is comprised of coxswain Melissa Hayes, stroke Mariah Smith-Miloff, Bridget Troy, Joni Goodman, Jess Nestor, Teresa Archuleta, Maria Fussell, Jenni Cooper and bow Sarah Allison. Gonzaga's varsity four boat is coxed by Erin Palmiter with stroke Brianna Morin, Hilda Morones, Brittany Price and box Alison Cushman. Gonzaga will also race a novice four at WIRA's that boat includes coxswain Melissa Refuerzo, stroke Jessica Michaels, Courtney Cline, Liz Sambach and box Ann Parker. "The team is really looking forward to the weekend and seeing how they compare against the best crews in the WCC and WIRA," said women's head coach Glenn Putyrae. "The team has been working hard all year for these races - now is when we see if all the hard work will pay off. This is a great opportunity for us to show off the strength of our entire team." The women's team will indeed get a chance to show its overall strength as Gonzaga has four boats entered in the WIRA Championships on Saturday and Sunday. Gonzaga's novice four will race in the first heat of the day with Saint Mary's College, UC San Diego, San Diego State University, Sonoma State University and the University of Oregon. The top two in each of the three heat races will advance to Sunday's Grand Final. Gonzaga's women's varsity four will also face tough competition in their heat race that includes Orange Coast College, Long Beach State University, Pacific Lutheran University and UC Irvine. Gonzaga's junior varsity and varsity women will compete in afternoon heat races at WIRA. The women's JV eight have been seeded second overall with Sacramento State earning a No. 1 seed and San Diego State earning a No. 3 seed. Gonzaga's heat race includes University of San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Willamette University and Humboldt State University. The top two boats from each heat race advance to Sunday's Grand Final with Gonzaga the defending WIRA Champion in the junior varsity eight division. The Zags varsity women have been seeded third overall behind No. 1 seed Sacramento State and No. 2 Loyola Marymount. Those three schools have won each of the past three WIRA titles with Sacramento State winning in 2001, Gonzaga winning in 2002 and LMU winning last year. Gonzaga's heat race also includes UC Davis, UC Irvine, Western Washington University, Saint Mary's and Pacific Lutheran. The Gonzaga varsity men have been seeded No. 4 for Saturday's opening heat race with No. 3 seed UC San Diego also in their bracket. Orange Coast College was seeded No. 1 in the men's varsity eight while UC Davis was seeded second based on a close victory over Gonzaga two weeks ago in Spokane. Filling out the Gonzaga heat race are Sacramento State, University of Colorado, University of Oregon and Willamette. The top two boats from each heat race will advance to Sunday's WIRA Grand Final. "We are in a great position for the weekend," mentioned Gonzaga men's head coach and director of rowing Dan Gehn. "We have three races over three days and I expect every one of them to be a battle. The guys are going to have to be very blue collar, very hard nosed and not give up and inch at any time on the race course. I think it is a fast field this year with OCC, UC Davis and UCSD leading the way." Gonzaga's varsity eight will include coxswain Elaine Parry, stroke Mark Voorhees, Pat Haffey, Max Malotky, Nathan Wilson, Matthew Wernette, Ben Foley, Connor Barry and bow David Hinshaw. Gonzaga will also send a junior varsity eight to compete in WIRA's, that boat includes coxswain Mara Oblak, stroke Nick Talbot, Billy Votava, Mike Wall, Derek Clemmensen, James Toshack, Mike Demmert, Matt White and bow Brad Jones. The Gonzaga men's junior varsity eight has been seeded third for the WIRA championship with only two heats being raced. Gonzaga's heat race includes No. 2 seed Orange Coast College, University of Puget Sound, UC Irvine and Colorado. UC Davis was seeded No. 1 in the junior varsity draw with the top three boats from each heat race advancing to Sunday's Grand Final. Gonzaga's men's varsity eight will open the weekend with a Friday morning race in the un-official WCC Championships. The event matches all men's crews from WCC schools in a men's varsity eight race. The WCC race has been won by Gonzaga in each of the two previous years and this year will include crews from the following WCC schools - Loyola Marymount, University of Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego and Santa Clara University.
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