Western wins 5 of 6 races at Cascade Sprints
Western Washington University women's rowing team opened its 2011 season in strong fashion Saturday, winning five of six races at the Cascade Sprints at American Lake.
The Vikings won the varsity, junior varsity and third varsity eight races, as well as the novice eight and junior varsity eight. They were third in the varsity eight.
"It went really well, it was a good way to start the season for sure," said Western coach John Fuchs. "From top to bottom, we saw a lot of good strokes. That was probably the most pleasing thing, and we saw good results from that."
The varsity 8, which returned six rowers from last year's NCAA Division II national championship crew, won its race in a time of 6:42.4, more than 15 seconds ahead of second-place Puget Sound.
The junior varsity eight (6:55.3) and third varsity eight (6:55.21) won in times good enough they would have placed second in the main varsity eight race.
The novice eight defeated a three-boat field in 7:11.4, and the junior varsity four beat a four-boat field in 7:36.9.
Western's top two boats compete in the San Diego Crew Classic starting on Sat., March 31.