WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEK:  
Washington State University rowing team will race at the 2019 Pac-12 Rowing Championships, Sunday, May 13 at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma at Gold River, Calif…women's racing will begin at 9:15 a.m. with the novice eight grand final, although that event will not be scored...next up is the third varsity eight grand final at 9:45 a.m., followed by the varsity four grand final (10:15 a.m.), the second varsity eight grand final (10:45 a.m.) and the varsity eight grand final (11:15 a.m.)…in addition to challenging for the Pac-12 title, WSU will be competing for a bid to the NCAA Championships, which take place May 31-June 2 at Eagle Creek Park at Indianapolis, Ind......the Pac-12 Championships will be shown on tape delay on the Pac-12 Networks, Wednesday, May 22 at 7 p.m...live results can be found online at regattatiming.com.

THE FIELD: 
The 2019 Pac-12 Rowing Championships will include the seven conference varsity rowing programs (No. 1 Washington, No. 2 California, No. 3 Stanford,  No. 13 USC, No. 19 Oregon State and UCLA and Washington State, both receiving votes)…all events will be seven-lane races to determine the champion...each race is worth a different amount of points, as varsity eight is worth as many as 21 points for first place, second varsity eight is worth as many as 14 points for first place, varsity four is worth seven points for first place and the third varsity eight race winner earns 3.5 points...the novice eight race will not be scored...please see the sidebar of this release for more details on the scoring...WSU is seeded fourth in the novice eight race, sixth in the third varsity eight and seventh in the varsity four, second varsity eight and varsity eight. 
 

Event	Lane 1	Lane 2	Lane 3	Lane 4	Lane 5	Lane 6	Lane 7
Novice 8	WASH	CAL	UCLA	WSU
3rd Varsity 8	WASH	STAN	CAL	OSU	UCLA	WSU
Varsity 4	WASH	STAN	CAL	OSU		UCLA	WSU
2nd Varsity 8	STAN	WASH	CAL	USC	OSU	UCLA	WSU
Varsity 8	CAL	WASH	STAN	USC	OSU	UCLA	WSU

WSU HEAD COACH JANE LaRIVIERE ON THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS: "I think we're really excited. This is the culmination of a lot of training and  a lot of time. We've had some fantastic weather the last couple of weeks which we didn't have the rest of the season. We're rounding into form, they seem to be finding a little bit more speed and we're looking forward to getting started. I think all the boats are improving. We've been shifting people around and doing pieces. I think it's a great time to be improving and that's what I've been seeing practice."

PAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS: 
For the second-straight season, No. 1 Washington swept all four scoring events to capture the 2018 Pac-12 title with 45.5 points, just its second title since 2003...second-ranked California placed second for the second-straight year with 36 points, just edging out No. 5 Stanford with 35.5 points...No. 12 USC finished just one point ahead of No. 15 WSU with 22 for fourth, as the Cougars placed fifth with 21 points, ahead of UCLA in sixth (11.5 points) and Oregon State in seventh (10 points)...WSU has finished in the top-five each of the last four seasons...WSU earned its best conference team finish in 2006, stroking to second place as a team…the Cougars have finished third four times (2003, 2004, 2008, 2015)…three Cougar crews have garnered Pac-10/12 Champion honors (second varsity eight, 1995, 1996; novice eight, 2001)...the varsity eight and varsity four boats' best finishes came in 2006 when both placed second. 

COUGARS' LAST OUTING:   
For the second-straight season, the Cougars swept Gonzaga, including a win in the varsity eight race to hold on to the Fawley Cup...the varsity eight captured a three-second victory, while the second varsity eight won by five seconds, the varsity four by 30 seconds and the third varsity eight by 15 seconds over WSU's novice eight crew and 46 seconds ahead of Gonzaga.

COACHING STAFF:
Jane LaRiviere is in her 17th year as head coach of the WSU women's rowing program...as a team, the Cougars have raced in 12 NCAA Championships under LaRiviere...she is joined by associate head coach Karl Huhta, assistant/novice coach Brandon Campbell, assistant coach Dave Kempsell, coordinator of operations Amy VanBuskirk, and graduate assistant Olivia Hecimovich...Huhta is in his fifth year with the Cougars, and second year as associate head coach...Campbell is entering his fourth year...Kempsell comes in for his second year, his first as an assistant coach with the Cougars after serving as the graduate assistant last year.

PAC-12 HIGHLY RANKED: 
WSU is receiving six votes in this week's USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Division I Coaches Poll presented by Pocock Racing Shells, released May 15..five of the seven Pac-12 rowing teams are ranked in the top-20 poll, Washington-first, California-second, Stanford-third, USC-13th, and Oregon State-19th…UCLA (13) and WSU (6) are receiving votes.