UW Finishes Fourth At NCAA Championships

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Washington women's rowing team finished in fourth place at the 2022 NCAA Championships at Nathan Benderson Park, earning a third place in the second varsity eights grand final, as well as fifth-place finishes in the varsity eight and varsity four.
 
Washington, ranked No. 8 as a team and seeded No. 8 in the varsity eight, went into the varsity eight final with the title still on the line. Entering the last race of the regatta, the team points totals were close enough that whichever of Texas, Washington, Stanford and Princeton finished first would win the team title.
 
For the second year in a row, Texas took home the crown, tying on points with Stanford (124), but winning on the tie-breaker, which is the varsity eight finish, which the Longhorns won with an open-water lead over the rest of the field.
 
Last year in Sarasota, the Huskies finished in a three-way tie alongside Stanford and Texas. The UW had won the varsity four and second varsity eights finals, but finished third in the varsity eight. Texas won the team title based on the tiebreaker, with the Cardinal second and Washington third.
 
Washington, which along with Brown is one of only two teams to compete at all 25 NCAA Rowing Championships regattas, has never finished outside of the top-10 since the NCAA first established its women's rowing championship in 1997. The Huskies have finished in the top five on 17 occasions after today's results.
 
No. 1-ranked Texas led the entire way in the varsity eight grand final. Princeton was second early on, but Stanford moved into that spot by the 1,000-meter mark. Washington sat fifth at 1,000 and 1,500 meters, with Cal fourth. The Huskies narrowed the gap at the end, but finished less than half a second behind the Golden Bears.
 
Texas won the grand final with a time of 6:10.733, while Stanford was nearly five seconds back, at 6:15.437. Princeton (6:17.707), Cal (6:18.782) and Washington (6:19.163) were all relatively close to one another, with sixth-place Brown crossing in 6:26.592.
 
Beset by injuries and health issues all spring, the UW program only had anything close to its intended lineups at Pac-12s and NCAAs. 
 
"What's gratifying is that we're here as a team at full health," said varsity coxswain and 2022 team captain Nina Castagna. "It's not the result we were hoping for, but at the same time, a couple of months ago, we weren't even sure we could field an NCAA team. The fact that we were all able to come here and send the seniors off is exciting. I'm really proud of this team, and honored to have been captain this year."

"If you had asked me in March what it would take for us to make the podium, I'd have said it was going to be very challenging and we were going to have to work very, very hard," said head coach Yasmin Farooq. "And we did. We've made so much progress since then. It was like a race against the clock to get the team to full speed. It was awesome to be back in the hunt again, and I've honestly never been so proud of a fourth-place overall finish. 
 
Washington's second varsity eight, seeded third heading into the regatta, ran second to Yale for the first 1,000 meters of its grand final. In the third 500, Stanford moved past the UW into second, and the race finished in that order. Yale's time was 6:21.169 with Stanford second in 6:23.220. Washington's time of 6:25.514 was less than a second better than fourth-place Texas (6:26.282).
 
In the first grand final of the morning, the varsity four, Texas took the early lead on, with Washington second, but by 1,000 meters, Princeton had taken the lead and the Longhorns third. 
 
Washington was still second at 1,500, but ran out of steam in the final portion of the race. Princeton (7:05.231) hung on for the win, with Ohio State (7:06.464) and Texas (7:07.187) in second and third, respectively.

"I'm really glad we'll still have some time to train and grow as we build speed towards Henley," Farooq added. The UW will send two eights to the Henley Royal Regatta June 28-July 3 in England.
 
WASHINGTON'S NCAA LINEUPS
 
Varsity Eight
Shell: Dottie Simpson
Cox: Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills)
Stroke: Carmela Pappalardo (Salerno, Italy)
7: Teal Cohen (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School)
6: Ella Cossill (Gold Coast, Australia)
5: Holly Drapp (Tampa, Fla./Strawberry Crest)
4: Holly Dunford (Tadworth, England, U.K.)
3: Aisha Rocek (Erba, Italy)
2: Valentina Iseppi (Gardone Riviera, Italy)
Bow: McKenna Bryant (Kent, Wash./Kennedy Catholic)
 
Second Varsity Eight
Shell: Title IX Tenacity
Cox: Grace Murdock (Roswell, Ga./Milton)
Stroke: Carmen McNamara-Smith (Seattle, Wash./The Center School)
7: Joïe Zier (Orcas Island, Wash./Orcas Island)
6: Katherine Slack (Everett, Wash./Kamiak)
5: Angharad Broughton (Cardiff, Wales, U.K.)
4: Isabel van Opzeeland (Hoofddorp, Netherlands)
3: Nikki Martincic (Newtown, Sydney, Australia)
2: Brittani Shappell (Bellingham, Wash./Walworth Barbour)
Bow: Fiona Shields (Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge)
 
Varsity Four
Shell: Wendell S. Sykes
Stroke: Taylor Buell (Olympia, Wash./Capital)
3: Shakira Mirfin (Invercargill, New Zealand
2: Madi Frampton (Tumwater, Wash.)
Bow: Dimitra Tsamopoulou (Athens, Greece)
Cox: Carina Baxter (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge)
 
Spares
Laurel Safranek (Anchorage, Alaska/West Anchorage)
Abby Adebiyi (London, England, U.K.)
 
 
WASHINGTON'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
 
UW's All-Time NCAA Team Finishes
2021: 3rd
2019: 1st
2018: 2nd
2017: 1st
2016: 5th
2015: 4th
2014: 7th
2013: 6th
2012: 7th
2011: 8th
2010: 10th
2009: 7th
2008: 2nd
2007: 10th
2006: 7th
2005: 9th
2004: 5th
2003: 3rd
2002: 2nd
2001: 1st
2000: 2nd
1999: 3rd
1998: 1st
1997: 1st
 
UW's All-Time NCAA Boat Champions
Fours (stroke to bow, coxswain)
1999 (Erin Becht, Anna Mickelson, Kara Nykrein, Kellie Schenk, Mary Whipple)
2000 (Lauren Estevenin, Carrie Stasiak, Heidi Hurn, Adrienne Hunter, Anne Heisburg)
2001 (Margherita Pallottino, Yvonne Stenken, Kattie Baurichter, Teegan Simonson, Maili Barber)
2008 (Rachel Powers, Jennifer Park, Charlene Franklin, Adrienne Martelli, Maggie Cheek)
2017 (Valentina Iseppi, Valerie Vogt, Julia Paulsen, Sophia Baker, Marley Avritt)
2019 (Dimitra Tsamopoulou, Kieanna Stephens, Holly Drapp, Emma Vagen, Dana Brooks)*
2021 (Carmen McNamara-Smith, Fiona Shields, Katherine Slack, Sophia Chaffey, Sachi Yamamoto)
* - NCAA-record time for fours: 6:52.451
 
Second Eights (coxswain, stroke to bow)
2002 (Anne Hessburg, Jenni Vesnaver, Jessica Harm, Shannon Oates, Erin Becht, Sanda Hangan, Margherita Pallottino, Erin Curry, Mandy Nelson)
2017 (Isabella Corriere, Marlee Blue, Maggie Phillips, Carmela Pappalardo, Phoebe Spoors, Karlé Pittsinger, Bella Chilczuk, Anna Thornton, Calina Schanze)
2018 (Marley Avritt, Brooke Pierson, Katy Gillingham, Carmela Pappalardo, Karlé Pittsinger, Julia Paulsen, Jennifer Wren, Jessica Thoennes, Calina Schanze)
2019 (Amanda Durkin, Klara Grube, Lark Skov, Elise Bueke, Holly Dunford, Molly Gallaher, Mackenna Cameron, Skylar Jacobson, Adele Likin)*
2021 (Dana Brooks, McKenna Bryant, Dimitra Tsamopoulou, Molly Gallaher, Taylor Buell, Nikki Martincic, Lark Skov, Joïe Zier, Brittani Shappell)
* - NCAA-record time for second eights: 6:11.262
 
First Eights (coxswain, stroke to bow)
1997 (Alida Purves, Sabina Telenska, Denni Nessler, Kelly Horton, Katy Dunnet, Annie Christie, Jan Williamson, Tristine Glick, Kari Green)
1998 (Missy Collins, Sabina Telenska, Denni Nessler, Kelly Horton, Katy Dunnet, Annie Christie, Rachel Dunnet, Vanessa Tavalero, Kari Green)
2001 (Mary Whipple, Lauren Estevenin, Nicole Borges, Anna Mickelson, Rika Geyser, Adrienne Hunter, Carrie Stasiak, Nicole Rogers, Annabel Ritchie)
2002 (Mary Whipple, Lauren Estevenin, Annabel Ritchie, Anna Mickelson, Heidi Hurn, Adrienne Hunter, Carrie Stasiak, Kara Nykreim, Yvonneke Stenken)
2017 (Phoebe Marks-Nicholes, Chiara Ondoli, Elise Beuke, Brooke Pierson, Katy Gillingham, Brooke Mooney, Tabea Schendekehl, Jessica Thoennes, Annemieke Schanze)
2019 (Marley Avritt, Tabea Schendekehl, Calina Schanze, Sofia Asoumanaki, Marlee Blue, Teal Cohen, Valentina Iseppi, Jennifer Wren, Carmela Pappalardo)*
* - NCAA-record time for first eights: 6:07.284
 
All-Time NCAA Rowing Team Championships
Brown – 7
Washington – 5
California – 4
Ohio State – 3
Virginia – 2
Texas – 1
Stanford – 1
Harvard – 1
 
All-Time NCAA Rowing Boat (V8+, 2V8+, V4+) Championships
Washington – 18
Brown – 14
Virginia – 9
California – 7
Ohio State – 6
Yale – 4
Princeton – 3
Michigan – 2
Stanford – 2
Texas – 1
Clemson – 1
Harvard – 1
Minnesota – 1
USC – 1
 
UW's Pre-NCAA (NCRC) Women's National Championships
Varsity Eight*
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1987
1988
* V8+ winner was considered "national champion" prior to introduction of NCAA regatta
 
Junior Varsity Eight
1981
1982
1983
1987
1989
1994
 
Varsity Four
1987