VANCOUVER – The Pacific Lutheran women's rowing team finished the inaugural Northwest Conference Championship Regatta with a third-place score Sunday morning at Vancouver Lake.
The Lutes finished third in the 1V 2000-meter race and second in the 2V race. The 1V boat of Jessica Hunter at coxswain and Hallie Peterson, Julie Fardal Johansen, Evan Schmidt, Victoria Henning, Savannah Schneider, Carly Lange, Kari Brauer and Clarissa Pendleton in rowing seats one-through-eight put together a finishing time of 7:18.35 to place third behind Puget Sound (7:02.5) and Lewis & Clark (7:12.28).
"Today was a tough day on the water, certainly great championship racing conditions," PLU head coach Andy Foltz said. "We struggled in the 1V to really find a strong rhythm as they were most likely a little too amped up. The 1V also had a challenging week with only rowing their race lineup once for various reasons. I thought they stepped up and handled the adversity very well through the week."
PLU's 2V boat of Hannah Walling at coxswain and Ticia Hackney, Camille Lemke, Jessica Christensen, Katie Bennett, Mielle Hubbard, Jennifer Boldra, Emily Odegard and Sydney Otey in the rowing seats took second with a time of 7:39.86. Puget Sound also took first in that race (7:24.13), while Lewis & Clark placed third (8:00.13).
For the point totals, PLU picked up 24 points in the 1V race and 10 points in the 2V race for a total of 34 points. Puget Sound totaled 42 to claim the team title (30-12), while Lewis & Clark edged PLU by one point with 35 (27-8). Willamette finished fourth overall, while Pacific finished fifth.
"We've certainly got things to work on and are making great progress through this process," Foltz said.
A pair of Lutes earned All-Northwest Conference honors, as senior Savannah Schneider and freshman Carli Lange received recognition. Foltz praised both rowers as deserving of the honor, calling Schneider "a standout on the team for her boat-moving abilities," while saying that Lange "has become a standout not only with her stellar erg score but also her technical approaches to the sport and her graciousness as a teammate."
PLU heads to Folsom, Calif., next weekend for the WIRA Championships before concluding the regular season May 2 hosting the Meyer Lamberth Cup at American Lake. Foltz believes the first-year NWC championship experience along with the next two weeks will provide a solid opportunity for team growth.
"We are still learning how to compete and be consistent week to week," he said. "We'll reflect a little bit in the next 24 hours, take some notes and then start preparing for the next two weeks to make a final push to get an NCAA bid."
