Rowing to Close Fall Season at Head of the Lake

Cougar Rowing Crosses Cascades to Close Fall Competition: After a successful weekend in Spokane, the Washington State University women’s rowing team will compete in the its final regatta of the fall season. The Cougars travel to Seattle for the Head of the Lake, one of the largest fall regattas on the West Coast, Sunday Nov. 2. Racing will being at 8 a.m. and the Cougars’ final race of the day will begin at 8:30 a.m.

The 2014 Head of the Lake: Lake Washington Rowing Club hosts the 2014 Head of the Lake regatta...boats will compete in a unique three-mile race that takes place in both Lake Union and Lake Washington...that race starts in Lake Union, passes through the Montlake Cut, and finishes outside the Conibear Shellhouse at Lake Washington...Washington State will face crews from the University of Washington, Gonzaga University, Old Dominion University, Seattle University, University Portland, Western Washington University, Pacific Lutheran University, Pacific University, University of Oregon, University of Puget Sound, University of British Columbia, Portland State University, University of the Fraser Valley, the Victoria City Rowing Club, and the Vancouver Rowing Club...Head of the Lake is open to juniors, high school, collegiate, open, and masters crews.

Last Time at Head of the Lake: In 2013, for the third-straight year, WSU’s varsity four highlighted the regatta by posting the fastest collegiate time in the women’s collegiate varsity four race...the crew posted a time of 19:53.94 and out-stroked Pac-12 opponent Stanford by six seconds and rival Washington by seven seconds...WSU also notched a win in the women’s collegiate third varsity eight race with a time of 18:40.22...both the varsity eight (17:42.84) and second varsity eight (18:23.59) finished second in their respective races.

WSU Head Coach Jane LaRiviere on Head of the Lake: “The Head of the Lake is the race we focus on in the fall, and it will be our first time seeing Pac-12 competition, so I think it’s going to be really fun. It’s definitely a big event and it’s great for the women on our team to have to deal with a lot of chaos and early mornings. It’s the most competitive race. UW is going to be there and that is always the main competition. They’re awesome and we’re going to see how we stack up against them and hope that we get the best race that we’re capable of. It’s definitely a coxswain’s course and you can gain a lot of time or lose a lot of time and I’m feeling really good about where our coxswains are right now. We race there a couple times a year and we feel very comfortable.”

Coaching Staff: Jane LaRiviere is in her 13th year as head coach of the WSU women’s rowing program...the Cougars have raced in eight NCAA Championships under LaRiviere...she is joined by associate head coach Josh Adam, novice coach Devon Carroll, assistant coach Corrie McGrath and coordinator of operations Karl Huhta. Adam is in his fifth year after coaching his prior two years at Indiana...Carroll is in her third year with the Cougars and first as the novice coach...McGrath is in her seventh year at WSU, after coaching stints at Clemson and Central Florida...Huhta is in his first year as coordinator of operations and third year overall, after being a volunteer coach in 2009-10.

Next up for the Cougars: The Cougars will travel to California for the Pac-12 Challenge to open the spring season, March 28 at Redwood Shores, Calif.