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Still Rowing
May 15, 2008
Although school has let out for the summer, LMU crew will continue racing into June with two more events remaining on its schedule. First up is the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships this Saturday at Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, CA. The season will conclude June 5-7 at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta on Cooper River in Camden, NJ. On Saturday, LMU will return to the site of its last competition, the West Coast Conference Championship and the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship, at Lake Natoma. The field will be split into two groups: the Openweight, which consists of underclassmen who will be returning in 2008-09, and the Lightweight, which is open to any collegiate age group. LMU is sending six boats total: women's lightweight eight and four, women's openweight eight and four, women's single and men's pair. Saturday will also be a return to LMU's greatest triumph in 2006-07, when the Lions sent four boats to the PCRC and came home with four medals, including gold in women's singles and men's pair. They will be looking to duplicate those efforts, with Jill Austin returning to defend her singles gold and David Cronin and Scott Wike hoping to make it two straight top finishes in the men's pair. Cronin and Wike will get the day started at 9:50 a.m. Last year, the pair recorded a comfortable 17-second victory over Sacramento State. This year, they will be matched up against UC Davis. Two weeks ago, Cronin and Wike had rowed to a second place finish in the WIRA final. The women's lightweight eight gets the call at 1:10 p.m. seeking to improve upon its runners-up placing a year ago. A strong lineup sees the Lions drawn in lane one with Santa Clara racing in lane two and Stanford in lane three.
"The lightweight group is finishing off their season in the eight," Women's Coach Sara-Mai Conway said. "This weekend will give them one more shot to race Stanford and hopefully see big improvements on time down the course." At 1:30 p.m., the women's openweight eight takes to the water also in lane one. UC San Diego and Cal will be the only other collegiate boats in the five-team race, with club sides River City and Bair Island also competing. "These last two weeks of practice and PCRC racing are great for those in the openweight class as it gives a good preview of what their potential will be for 2009 and a great way for them to end the season and go into their summer with just the teammates they will see next fall," Conway said. "We have been working hard to get this group geared up for `09 and set a new dynamic for next fall." Austin will be pulling triple duty on Saturday after rowing in the lightweight eight boat earlier. She will defend her PCRC title at 2:40 p.m. against a pair of singles from UC San Diego having easily won last year by a margin of more than 80 seconds. She will be looking to add to her already-impressive individual award collection as she won the Long Beach Sprints in January, was third at the World Indoor Championships in February, and was the only Lion named to the All-West Coast Conference team earlier this month. In addition to her singles gold last year, she also helped row the lightweight eight to a silver medal. The women's openweight four will take on a full field when it races at 3:20 p.m. LMU will be in lane one alongside Sacramento State, Western Washington, Cal, Bair Island, UC San Diego, and USC. The final race of the day sees Austin return to action as she looks to help the women's lightweight four to gold at 4 p.m. Austin was a member of the quad that won the WIRA title two weeks prior and has already qualified for the IRA Championships in June. LMU will see only one boat from that last race this weekend as it goes head-to-head with UC San Diego. "The light four is gearing up for National Championships, so it's a great opportunity for them to get one more race under their belt prior to New Jersey," Conway said. Lineups Women's LIght Eight - Cox - Jenn Guess, 8-Mary Foster, 7-Jill Austin, 6-Jen Glassman, 5-Liz LaLonde, 4-Courtney Bannerman, 3-Talya Courtney, 2-Alex Lee, 1-Larissa Meltz Women's Open Four - Cox- Ramirez, 4- Becky Nolan, 3-Alexa Aftias, 2-Adrienne Lindstrom, 1-Bettina Messerli Women's Light Four - Cox - Guess, 4- Austin, 3-Glassman, 2-Foster, 1-LaLonde Women's Collegiate Singe - Austin Men's Pair - Dave Cronin, Scott Wike Schedule of Events (only events LMU is entered are listed) The full weekend schedule is available here. Directions: From Highway 50: |
