Racing Schedule

TACOMA, Wash. - The three-time defending Northwest Conference Champion Pacific Lutheran University women's rowing team opens the lid on the spring season on Saturday, hosting the PLU Invitational on American Lake.
 
The Lutes return plenty of experience from a squad that captured its third consecutive league crown last season before placing seventh at the NCAA Division III Championships. Of the 20 student-athletes who made the trek last season to Sarasota, Florida for nationals, 16 return, including six from the varsity eight boat.
 
"The expectation is that we get better with each race. We have a big group of returners this year, which is different than the fall when we had 11 student-athletes studying away," said Head Coach Andy Foltz. "It's now getting that group back into the swing of things, they're all in the varsity eight or second varsity eight boats pretty much at this point. They're all great boat movers so it's nice to have them back."
 
Headlining the crop of returners is Hannah Peterson who returns for her senior campaign as a three-time All-American. The Montana native additionally participated over the summer in the USRowing U-23 Selection Camp, competing with some of the best collegiate rowers around the country. 
 
"It's really nice (having a veteran group) because you don't have to tell them to work hard. They already know the expectations. So it's nice they come in and do the work and then they help uplift the first years to what that standard is for work. It's also been really easy to push them this year. We've had the foot on the pedal since January and they train really well and we're logging a lot of meters each week."
 
Also returning from last year's 1V8+ boat is Hannah Beach, Alex Moore, Alison Wriggle, Madeline Woods, and Molly Ivey. 
 
Coach Foltz has been impressed with the fitness level of the experienced rowers, especially those who spent the fall in study away programs.
 
"If I had to pick a most improved so far it would be Abbie Loring. She's made a huge improvement. She was one that went to University of Aberdeen in the fall and she took on the competitive group out there, the senior team, and trained her butt off and got into really good shape and has continued to do so. Everybody who returned came back in really good shape. The cool thing about the Aberdeen group that they got to row all term with a coach while here we only row for five weeks in the fall. So they were able to train consistently through the fall which I think has been huge for them."
 
The Lutes who studied away in locales away from Aberdeen were still able to maintain fitness through a variety of activities. 
 
"We had two people run half marathons, another hiked every weekend. They were active and but also made sure to enjoy the experience which is exactly what I tell them to do."
 
Despite the presence of several veterans, the Lutes find themselves breaking in a new crop of coxswains. 
 
"We do have a unique situation that all of our experience people are rowers. We have five first-year coxswains so that has been a challenge but we've had some great coxswains step up into that role."
 
One of those coxswains has been first-year Kale'a Paiva. 
 
"Kale'a has stepped up big time. She's consistent, she's good with courses and is an aggressive motivator. She also knows the water well with her experience as a steersman for her high school outrigger team."
 
Paiva is one of several first-years on the team, one of the largest novice classes PLU has had. 
 
"We basically have two eights worth of experience and two eights worth first-years. So we actually have a full first-year squad which is something we haven't had since I've been here where we can race a full first-year eight. So that will be a priority when we get down to Sacramento at the end of the year."
 
Those novices have already gotten a taste of success, winning two races at the Puget Sound Autumn Invitational back on Oct. 28 to close the fall racing season. 
 
Looking towards Saturday, the Lutes will be using the regatta as a first stepping stone while facing some top-notch competition, including Western Washington University and Seattle Pacific University, two programs who are nationally-ranked Division II programs. 
 
"This weekend specifically we want to set a good time mark to start the year with and push it down from there. We know it's going to be cold so times might not be as awesome but want to be close if not breaking the seven-minute mark. We want to knock off the rust and do it in a relaxed and safe environment with fair and clean racing. Our goals of course are to win but our secondary goal is to be competitive because we're racing two excellent Division II programs, and if we can compete with them we can compete for a medal spot at the NCAA Championships." 
 
Activities at American Lake begin a 7 a.m. with the PLU men's club program dedicating its new 4+ shell as "Men of '70" in honor of the 1970 varsity four that won the Western Sprints and finished third at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. The first race gets underway at 8:45 a.m. with the first Lute boat hitting the water at 8:50 a.m.