UW Women Wrap Up Fall With Successful Head Of The Lagoon

The Washington women's rowing team closed out its fall season Saturday with wins in three different race categories at the Head of the Lagoon Regatta.
 
The Huskies took first and second place in the women's collegiate fours and women's collegiate eights. The UW also claimed the women's pairs, though the field for that race category included only Washington entries.
 
The start of the morning's racing was delayed by more than an hour due to foggy conditions, but eventually got underway about 75 minutes later than scheduled. 
 
Washington opened its day with all six of the entries in the women's pairs. Veterans Teal Cohen and Carmela Pappalardo (who has returned to Seattle after spending the last two years training with the Italian national team) won the race in a time of 20:17.2, about six seconds ahead of the UW pair of Ella Cossill and McKenna Bryant. That latter pair was later assessed a 30-second penalty (increasing its final, official time to 20:53.5), but still held second position even after the addition.
 
A couple of hours later, three Husky crews raced in the women's collegiate fours, alongside seven other college entries, and UW boats finished first, second and sixth.
 
The top finisher was a four stroked by Haley Stoker, which finished in 20:42.2. The second Husky four, stroked by Claire Surbeck, finished just six seconds back, in 20:48.5. A Sacramento State four finished in third place while a Cal entry was fourth.
 
After another two hours, the same rowers who'd already competed in either pairs or fours returned to form three eight-oared crews for the women's collegiate eights. However, due to an injury, the third Husky entry included just seven rowers and a coxswain.
 
Washington took the top two spots in that race as well, with a crew stroked by Abby Adebiyi and coxed by Nina Castagna won, with a time of 17:59.1. The next finisher was an eight stroked by Bryant and coxed by Carina Baxter, which crossed the finish in 18:10.5. A third UW eight competed with just seven rowers due to an injury, and finished in seventh place.

"There were a lot of turns and a lot of hype" said UW rower Taylor Buell, a grad student from Olympia, Wash. "It was fun to get to race this early in the year and pull my heart out for the new girls on the team. It's a crazy course but it was so fun to get out there and bring the energy. There's a lot of team building when you go on the road and have to work together to get everything ready to race. I thought we did a great job of being a unit and setting the tone for this year!"

"It was special to end the fall season on the road with a racing squad comprised of people of every level of experience—from freshmen walk-on rowers to fifth year seniors," UW head coach Yasmin Farooq said. "The Lagoon is a challenging and beautiful course. We had some excellent intrasquad competition in the pairs race and then got to face more West Coast crews in the fours and eights."
 
The Head of the Lagoon was the last event of the fall for the UW men's and women's rowing teams. The men wrapped up their fall schedule last weekend. The women will have nearly four months to prepare for their first competition of the spring, March 5 at Lake Las Vegas, while the men's next event is the annual Class Day Regatta, next March 19.
 
Washington's Head of the Lagoon Lineups
 
EVENT #2 – Women's Collegiate 2-
Bow 8: Ella Cossill/McKenna Bryant
Bow 9: Carmela Pappalardo/Teal Cohen
Bow 10: Taylor Buell/Joïe Zier
Bow 11: Holly Drapp/Brittani Shappell
Bow 12: Katherine Slack/Fiona Shields
Bow 13: Abby Adebiyi/Atlanta Bruce
 
 
EVENT #16 – Women's Collegiate 4+
Bow 136: Wendel S. Stokes
Cox: Nina Castagna
Stroke: Claire Surbeck
3: Ines Blondel
2: Katie Dolan
Bow: Laurel Safranek
 
Bow 141: Sam & Raz
Cox: Carina Baxter
Stroke: Haley Stoker
3: Grace Epp
2: Claire Marion
Bow: Grace Vander Griend
 
Bow 146: Allegra
Cox: Lauren Preston
Stroke: Molly Wiser
3: Brianna Hoffman
2: Sophie Koehler
Bow: Victoria Park
 
 
EVENT #26 – Women's Collegiate 8+
Bow 212: Title IX Tenacity
Cox: Nina Castagna
Stroke: Abby Adebiyi
7: Teal Cohen 
6: Carmela Pappalardo 
5: Atlanta Bruce
4: Katherine Slack
3: Fiona Shields
2: Haley Stoker 
Bow: Grace Epp
 
Bow 217: Title IX Sisterhood
Cox: Carina Baxter
Stroke: McKenna Bryant 
7: Ella Cossill
6: Holly Drapp
5: Taylor Buell
4: Grace Vander Griend 
3: Claire Marion
2: Brittani Shappell
Bow: Joïe Zier
 
Bow 219: Jean LaFramboise
Cox: Lauren Preston
Stroke: Claire Surbeck
7: Laurel Safranek
6: Katie Dolan 
5: Brianna Hoffman 
4: Molly Wiser
3: Sophie Koehler
2: Victoria Park