By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director
TACOMA, Wash. -- The Willamette University women's varsity 8+ and women's second varsity 8+ each took second place in two races at the Logger Invitational Regatta, held at American Lake on Saturday, April 9. The regatta was hosted by the University of Puget Sound.
In the Bearcats' first race of the WV8+, Willamette finished behind Puget Sound by just 6.5 seconds and edged out Mills College by one second. Puget Sound won the race in 7:06.3 and Willamette followed at 7:12.8. Mills crossed the finish line in 7:13.8.
The second WV8+ race involving the Bearcats was won by Paicific Lutheran University by open water in 6:57.3. Willamette was second at 7:24.2 and held a sizable margin on Pacific University, which took third in 8:07.7.
Willamette's varsity 8 crew was led by coxswain Kyra Farr (Fr., Bellevue, WA/Newport HS).
Rowing on the WV8+ were Carrie Moore (So., Walla Walla, WA/South Eugene HS) at stroke, Sarah Fish (Jr., Issaquah, WA/Holy Names Academy) at 7-seat, and Hannah Puckett (Jr., Davis, CA/Davis HS) at 6-seat, with Elizabeth Crowther (Fr., Boise, ID/Boise High School) at 5-seat, Miranda Martin (So., St. Louis, MO/Ladue Horton Watkins HS) at 4-seat, Rachael Christman (Fr., Kennewick, WA/Southridge HS) at 3-seat, Julia Di Simone (So., Livermore, CA/Livermore Valley Charter Prep) at 2-seat and Anna Burdine (Fr., Seattle, WA/Mount Rainier HS) at bow.
There were a total of four races in the WV8+, with six crews each competing in two of the races. In the first race that did not involve Willamette, Pacific Lutheran defeated Lewis & Clark College as well as Pacific. PLU's winning time was 6:50.8, with L&C in second at 6:56.9 and Pacific in third at 8:00.5.
In the other WV8+ race, Lewis & Clark finished in front of Puget Sound and Mills. L&C earned a time of 6:53.5, with Puget Sound at 7:00.6 and Mills completing the race in 7:23.3.
The W2V8+ also featured a series of four races. In Willamette's first race, the Bearcats were second behind Puget Sound's W2V8. The W3V8 from UPS took third. The winning time for the Loggers was 7:22.5, while the Bearcats finished in 7:34.2. The W3V8 from UPS reached the finish line in 7:39.6.
Later, Willamette's W2V8+ placed second against Pacific Lutheran and Mills. PLU won the race at 7:25.0. Willamette was second in 7:32.3 and Mills recorded a time of 8:21.8.
Willamette's crew in the W2V8+ included coxswain Laura Polkinghorn (Fr., Camino, CA/El Dorado HS), as well as stroke Natalie Branch (Fr., Cupertino, California/Homestead HS), 7-seat Allison Davies (Fr., Oceanside, CA/Mission Vista HS), 6-seat Elspeth Charno (So./Fr., Port Angeles, WA/Port Angeles HS), 5-seat Clara Sims (Fr., Los Lunas, NM/School of Dreams Academy), 4-seat Brenda Mittelbuscher (Jr./So., Lafayette, CA/Acalanes HS), 3-seat Catharine Creadick (Fr., Honolulu, HI/Iolani School), 2-seat Carli Fawcett (Fr., Rancho Santa Margarita, CA/Mission Viejo HS), and bow Annie Jolliff (Fr., Chico, CA/Chico HS).
Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound each placed first in one of the W2V8+ races that did not involve the Bearcats. In the first race, the Lutes won in 7:19.2, while L&C was second at 7:23.7 and Mills took third at 8:13.5. The second race was won by UPS at 7:21.3. The Pioneers followed at 7:33.5 and the Puget Sound W3V8 was third in 7:47.1.
The Bearcats will return to action on Sunday, April 24 at the Northwest Conference Championships, set for Vancouver Lake in Vancouver, Washington. Pacific will be the host of the regatta.
