PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Pacific Lutheran University Women's Rowing team began the 2024 season on Saturday morning on the Willamette River. The Charlie Brown Regatta also marks the first regatta of Head Coach Matt Oclander's PLU career. A calm morning on the water returned with a load of rain and wet conditions for the Lutes in Portland.
 
The Lutes raced four boats in their season opener, featuring two varsity eight boats, a varsity four, and a novice eight in an open event. In the varsity eight, the Makt boat featuring Riah Heil, Hannah Miyasaki, Carleigh Templin, Ashley Teague, Kat Judd, Kennadi Jones, Adia Carei, Makayla Hall, with Sarah Hoskins at coxswain ran a time of 12:52.0 in the 3,000-meter race. The Makt boat took third, finishing behind the A and B boats from Lewis & Clark.
 
The Lutes second Varsity Eight boat, Stille, was led by Sophia Pancoast at coxswain and followed by Miram Greer, Sage Miller, Suzie Roberts, Mackenzie Poppe, Natalie Mashue, Tate Trahan, Anujin Ankhbayar, and Kaylyn Sanford. The Stille boat finished fourth in the varsity event on the Willamette River with a time of 14:37.8.
 
Following a short break, Oclander's varsity four of Riah Heil, Hannah Miyasaki, Adia Carei, and Makayla Hall led by coxswain Sarah Hoskins returned to the water to run a 13:01.1 time and take fourth in the varsity four race. Lewis and Clark had three boats finish in the first three places, with the Lutes beating the boat from Pacific by seven seconds.
 
In an untimed open Novice Eight race, the boat of Sylvie Manz, Maddie Anderson, Abby Andrews, Anujin Ankhbayar, Tate Trahan, Natalie Mashue, Jilma Diaz-Demangue, Sareena Dhaliwal, and Mackenzie Poppe were the third boat to cross the final buoys.
 
"I'm really pleased with our first contest of the year, I think that our whole team went through their process very well and were thoughtful about their races. We know exactly what we need to improve upon." Said Head Coach Matt Oclander following his first race at the helm.
 
"I want to give a huge shoutout to all of the novices for donning the PLU uniform for the first time and having a lot of fun and joy in their first race. We had six novice rowers and a novice coxswain race in the varsity category today, and I'm really proud of how well they did despite the limited time we have had on the water thus far. The varsity 4 did a really great job with their quick turnaround from the eight to the four, and put in the best performance of the day. Finally, our novice eight orchestrated their best row of the season to date."
 
The Lutes return home to host their first regatta of the season on November 9^th against Seattle Pacific on American Lake.
 
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