Willamette Rowers Reach Grand Final in Women's Varsity 8+ at Cascade Sprints

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

TACOMA, WASH. -- Willamette University rowers advanced to the Grand Final in the women's varsity 8+ at the Cascade Sprints, hosted by the University of Puget Sound on Saturday, March 30 at American Lake. The Bearcats also competed in the women's varsity 4+ and the men's varsity 4+.

In the WV8+, the Bearcats took second place in their heat, which included crews from NCAA Division III as well as club teams from the University of Oregon and Washington State University. Willamette took third place, behind Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference (NCRC) rivals Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark College.

Puget Sound won the heat in 7:02.5, followed by L&C at 7:13.5 and Willamette at 7:18.2. Pacific Lutheran University placed fourth just over two seconds later than Willamette at 7:20.5. The U of O club team was fifth at 7:34.1 and the WSU club team was sixth at 7:37.5

The other preliminary heat included teams from NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II. Western Washington University from the NCRC claimed first place in the heat with a time of 6:53.0. Humboldt State placed second at 6:56.3. University of California-San Diego was third in 7:00.6 and Seattle Pacific University was fourth at 7:23.2.

Advancing to the Grand Final in the WV8+ were the top three teams in each heat. Western Washington won the race by crossing the finish line in 6:48.0. Humboldt State was second at 6:51.6 and UC-San Diego was third at 6:52.6. Willamette took sixth place in 7:18.3.

The coxswain for the Willamette crew in the WV8+ was Rachel Robinson (So., Bellevue, WA/Bellevue HS).

Rowing in the WV8+ were Kate Pfeiffer (Sr., Redding, CA/University Preparatory School) at stroke, Caroline Cahill (Jr., Maplewood, NJ/Lawrenceville School) at 7-seat, Anna Fredendall (So., Atlanta, GA/Dekalb School of the Arts) at 6-seat, Katy Wallner (So., Petaluma, CA/Petaluma HS) at 5-seat, Cassie Hansen (Fr., Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Oswego HS) at 4-seat, Kira Egelhofer (So., Anchorage, AL/West Anchorage HS) at 3-seat, Alli Claypool-Conrad (So., Ashland, OR/Ashland HS) at 2-seat, and Meredith Miller (So., Lake Oswego, OR/Seattle Pacific University) at bow.

Willamette was fifth in its preliminary heat of the WV4+. The heat that included the Bearcats, was won by Western Washington's "B" team in 7:41.3. Willamette's time was 8:21.8.

In the prelims of the men's varsity 4+, Willamette took sixth place in the top heat. Seattle University and Western Washington tied for first place in the heat with matching times of 7:06.4.

WU moved into the Petite Final in the MV4+. The club team from Washington State won the race by recording a time of 7:26.1. Willamette took fourth place in 7:49.2, but trailed the second place team, which was Seattle University's "B" crew, by just 7.8 seconds.

The Bearcat rowing teams will compete at the NCRC Invitational on Saturday, April 6 at Vancouver Lake in Vancouver, Wash.