Seattle University Women’s Rowing concluded their 2017-2018 season at the 32nd annual Windermere Cup this past Saturday, May 5, at Montlake Cut next to the University of Washington (UW).
The team raced three boats in the event—varsity 4+, varsity 8+ and second varsity 8+. Varsity 4+ (a boat with four rowers) raced with seniors Emily Nielson, Annika Sohlberg, junior Casey Sagarang and sophomores Jayna Bautista and Mary Sloan Beger. They placed third with a time of 8:23.918, behind UW varsity and second varsity, and Western Washington University.
The second varsity 8+ (a boat with eight rowers) went next, racing with first-years Sydney Suzuki, Elsa Derrickson, Leah Evans, Maggie Arnold, Miranda Lakey, Olivia Waller, Julia Sordello, Megan Oakes, and sophomore Alejandra Ortiz. They finished fourth with a time of 7:49.213 behind UW, Pacific Lutheran University and Seattle Pacific University.
In third place with a time of 7:23.785, the varsity 8+ competed in the last race for the Redhawks with sophomores Hana Stusser, Caitlin Mitchell, Alexandra Schulte, Maya Wormwood and seniors Brittany Casini, Katherine Ollenbrook, Catherine Abajian and Rebecca Ravitz. They finished behind UW and Seattle Pacific University.
“Looking at timewise, we were where we have been all year, so we had a good race,” Head Coach Jenny Park said.
Senior Ravitz was also content with the results of her last college competition.
“A lot of us going through this race [had] the mentality of ‘we’re there to have fun more than we’re really there to compete,’ since it’s after our main conference. And I think that’s what we did, we had fun during the race,” she said.
Reflecting on the season overall, Coach Park was content with the team’s season.
“We had some ups and downs but we ended up doing really well at our championship race last weekend. We learned a lot of stuff this year and we’ve really pulled it together and had a really good final race,” she said.
Ravitz shared her favorite highlight of the season, being when the team beat Santa Clara—one of their toughest competitions—at the grand final last weekend.
“It kind of started out as a tougher season and with a lot to learn and I think it really came together at that race,” Ravitz said. “All our hard work paid off, and it was exciting to see that.”
The team will be graduating seven seniors—Ravitz, Casini, Hammond, Abajian, Ollenbrook, Nielson and Sohlberg. Coach Park sees this as an opportunity for individuals to fill those new leadership roles.
“I always look forward to bringing in a new class and teaching new people how to row, letting them fall in love with the sport.”
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