Results

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- The Pacific Lutheran University women's rowing team's varsity four boat won its race while the Lutes' tallied three more runner-up finishes, competing against the rest of the Northwest Conference at the Pioneer Invitational on Vancouver Lake.

"It was a gorgeous day of great racing on Vancouver Lake and was a great preview to see where the conference stands. We saw our best success and improvements from the varsity eight and the varsity four, especially the latter who won their race by 12 seconds of open water," said Head Coach Matt Oclander.
 
The Lutes varsity four headlined the day in southern Washington, securing an 11.6 second victory over the NWC's other three schools. The boat, crewed by Riah Heil, Kennadi Jones, Adia Carei, Makayla Hall, and coxswain Louisa Compton charged down the 2,000-meter course in eight minutes, 6.5 seconds. Boathouse nemesis University of Puget Sound was second overall in 8:18.1 with Pacific University third (8:23.1) followed by host Lewis & Clark College (8:30.4).

The Lutes' varsity eight boat, the Spirit of Ollala, registered a runner-up finish to open the day, crossing the finish in 7:39.4. Riah Heil, Kennadi Jones, Kat Judd, Tate Trahan, Carleigh Templin, Ashley Teague, Adia Carei, Makayla Hall, and coxswain Louisa Compton enjoyed a 3.9-second gap on Pacific and a 10.5-second edge of Lewis & Clark. Puget Sound won the race, crossing the line in 7:25.4.

"The varsity eight race was restarted after a Pacific rower's shoes came undone within the breakage zone. In the full race, we had to row through Pacific who had a blazing first 1000 meters. The boat stayed composed. Riah did a great job keeping the tempo steady and methodical."

PLU's second varsity eight also placed second, clocking a time of 8:34.1 and finishing 17.7-seconds back of Lewis & Clark. The second varsity eight was crewed by Sophia Pancoast, Kaylyn Sanford, Sareena Dhaliwal, Mackenzie Poppe, Maddie Anderson, Sage Miller, Suzie Roberts, Abby Andrews, and coxswain Sarah Hoskins.

"The varsity eight had their most composed, complete race to date, and that showed in the time and margin. The second varsity eight didn't have as complete of a race, and we'll need to keep finding ways to get their raw power and energy to show up as boat speed. "
 
PLU's second varsity four boat of Templin, Teague, Pancoast, Sanford and coxswain Hoskins clocked a runner-up showing, crossing the finish in 9:34.6. The Lutes' time was 2.5-seconds ahead of the host Pioneers. The Lutes were third in the novice race with Judd, Trahan, Anderson, Poppe and coxswain Sylvie Manz clocking a time of 9:14.4.

"Almost all of our boats had their fastest times to date.  Aided a bit by the perfect conditions and extra sunshine no doubt, but a testament nonetheless to the hard work the team has been putting in this season. We look forward to seeing everyone again in two weeks. There is more work to be done! Thanks to Lewis & Clark for being such great hosts."

The Lutes are back on Vancouver Lake in two weeks, competing at the 2025 Northwest Conference Championships on April 19.