Western Washington University won its sixth straight national team title Sunday at the ninth annual NCAA Division II Women’s Rowing National Championships held on Lake Natoma at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center.

It is the first time that a school in any NCAA rowing division has claimed six straight crowns since the NCAA began a rowing championship in 1997.

“It was a great year,” said Western coach John Fuchs (12th year). “What an awesome team. They had great chemistry. They’re nice kids and good students and they worked well with each other. It was really a fun year, a fun group to coach for sure.”

For the first in their championship run, Western did not win the varsity eight, finishing four seats behind Mercyhurst PA. But that result, combined with an impressive five boat-length victory by the four, was enough for another championship.

“It was a helluva race,” Fuchs said. “Hats off to Mercyhurst, they’ve got a good crew and are well coached. It was a great race. Our kids didn’t leave anything out there. It was close the whole way with some good times.”

The Vikings’ four dominated, completing the 2,000-meter course in 7:25.35, over 18 seconds better than second-place Florida Tech (7:43.84) with Philadelphia third (7:56.92).

“They had probably their best race of the year, and it’s always good to do that on a day like today,” said Fuchs. “The field wasn’t that strong, but our kids had a great run. I think that’s the best time or pretty close to the best time we’ve ever posted down here.”

Mercyhurst led throughout the eight race, edging Western, ranked No.1 in the USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA II Poll, by 2.39 seconds. Mercyhurst, which placed second last year after entering the final rated No.1, won the 2004 national title, the last time the Vikings lost to a Division II opponent in the varsity eight, when they placed third.

“Mercyhurst was a little faster today,” Fuchs said. “They earned the right to say that they’re the best eight out there.”

Western took the team championship with 20 points, followed by Seattle Pacific 11, Philadelphia 10 and Florida Tech 9. Mercyhurst was not eligible because the Lakers only got an at-large bid for their varsity eight.

FULL STORY

– Courtesy WWU Athletics

In the Eights race, Western Washington pulled out to a winning lead in the second 500 meters. The Vikings were less than half a second off the pace set by Mercyhurst in the first 500 meters but pulled out to a nearly four-second margin by the midway point of the race. Western Washington crossed the finish line in a time of 6:52.60, while the Lakers had a time of 6:57.22. Seattle Pacific (7:00.22) and Philadelphia University (7:05.70) finished third and fourth, respectively.

Nova Southeastern enjoyed a comfortable winning margin in the Division II Fours to win its first individual championship. The Sharks led Mercyhurst and Western Washington by nearly three seconds after just 500 meters and held on to the margin to eventually win by 3.70 seconds with a time of 7:53.64. The Vikings were second in 7:57.34 and the Lakers took third in 7:57.70.

Mercyhurst earned four team points for a third-place finish in the Fours race and nine points for its finish in the Eights competition to finish second in the team standings with 13 points. Nova Southeastern was third with 11 points and Philadelphia University had eight team points and finished fourth.

The two at-large teams in the championship, Dowling and Seattle Pacific, were not eligible to receive team points. Dowling won the Petite Final of the Division II Eights with a time of 7:11.38, coming in just over five seconds ahead of Nova Southeastern.

Western Washington has now won five of the eight Division II Rowing Championships since the events inception in 2002. The Vikings have won nine individual championships.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

Western Washington 18
Mercyhurst 13
Nova Southeastern 11
Philadelphia University 8

–Courtesy Villanova Athletics

The Vikings were led by a core group of four seniors – Metta Gilbert (Helena, MT), Samantha Marikis (Republic), Staci Reynolds (Vancouver/Columbia River) and Amelia Whitcomb (Spokane/Ferris) – who rowed in the national regatta for each of the championships.

Western led from start to finish in winning both the four and eight grand finals, each for the fourth straight year, to claim the national title. No team in any division had won three straight championships prior to the Vikings performing that feat last season.

“It’s pretty impressive to accomplish what they’ve accomplished this year and for those seniors to finish out their careers like that, I can’t even fathom what they’re feeling right now,” said Western coach John Fuchs (10th year). “They’re the perfect example of what a student-athlete is. They represent all that is great about it.”

Western finished with a perfect score of 20 points to 15 for UC San Diego, which was the runner-up for the second straight year. The Vikings were ranked No.1 in the USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA II Poll all season long, receiving every first-place vote.

FULL STORY

–Courtesy Western Washington Athletics

The championships will be held May 30 through June 1 at Sacramento State Aquatic Center in Gold River, California. The University of California, Berkeley, will serve as host.

The team championship is comprised of four teams, and each team is required to field one boat of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers. The teams selected were: Dowling, UC San Diego, Nova Southeastern and Western Washington.

In addition, two at-large Eights from institutions not represented in the team competition were selected. The two schools selected were: Mercyhurst and Philadelphia U.

In 2007, Western Washington won its third consecutive national title at the NCAA Division II Women’s Rowing Championships May 25-27, 2007, at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

–Courtesy of NCAA.com

The Vikings, who have won the last three NCAA Division II national titles, are ranked atop the latest USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches of America NCAA II Poll, receiving all six first-place votes.

Going against the best the West Region had to offer, Western won the Division II eight and four races, as well as the open eight, all by two boat lengths or more. The Vikings also took top honors in the novice eight and junior varsity eight finals.

Western’s varsity eight won the DII race early in the morning with a 7:16.60 clocking over the 2,000-meter course. Humboldt State was second (7:39.08), followed by Seattle Pacific (7:40.16) and UC San Diego (7:41.23).

The Vikings’ varsity four captured its DII race in 8:24.90. It was the same order of finish as the DII eight with Humboldt State second (8:33.29), Seattle Pacific third (8:36.52) and UC San Diego fourth (8:50.17).

The Vikings have not lost to a Division II school in either a varsity eight or four race since the 2004 NCAA II national championships.

Western next entertains Puget Sound in a dual race Saturday, Apr. 12 (9 a.m.) on Lake Samish near Bellingham.

FULL STORY

–Excerpt courtesy WWU Sports Information

Senior team captain, Lindsay Mann-King, was named CRCA All-American for the third time. She was joined by junior stand-out Staci Reynolds. Sophomores Audrey Coon and Gina Auriemma were named CRCA National Scholar-Athletes. This is actually the seventh consecutive trip to nationals for Western. The Vikings competed in the NCAA championship for all divisions in 2001, the varsity eight finishing sixth in its qualifying, repechage and third final races. In 2002, each school raced two eights at nationals. Besides winning the last three national titles, Western placed third at nationals in 2004 and was second in 2002 and 2003. They are coached by WWU alum, John Fuchs. They compete in the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference.