Lutes Gear Up for WIRA Championships

THIS WEEKEND: Pacific Lutheran hopes to go out on a high note when it wraps up its 2010 season with an appearance this Saturday and Sunday at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships on Lake Natoma near Sacramento, Calif.

SEVEN BOATS ENTERED: The Lutes will compete in seven events. PLU women's boats entered (and their race times on Saturday) are the varsity eight (10 a.m.), the lightweight four (11:10 a.m.), the novice eight (12:10 p.m.), and the pair (2:50 p.m.). The men's boats competing on Saturday are the varsity eight (10:50 a.m.) and the varsity four (1:30 p.m.). The men's lightweight four does not have a preliminary race and competes in the final at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday.

LAST YEAR AT WIRA: PLU's best finish came in the women's pair where Kat Jenkins and Amber Iverson placed second. Both of those All-America rowers, however, have graduated. The Lutes competed in four other grand final races - the women's lightweight four and the second varsity eight both placed fourth in their finals, while the men's lightweight four and the women's varsity eight came up with fifth-place performances.

PLU LINEUPS:

Men's Varsity 8+: Nichole Fast (Tacoma, Wash.); Jacob Huntington (Olympia, Wash.); Mark Christensen (Idaho Falls, Idaho); Ivan Dennison (Tacoma, Wash.); Steve Rystrom (Bellingham, Wash.); Bryan Pascoe (Puyallup, Wash.); Mitchel Brown (Olympia, Wash.); Chad Hall (Chugiak, Alaska); Sam Whedon (Vancouver, Wash.).

Women's Varsity 8+: Natalie Journey (Poulsbo,Wash.); Audra Stafford (Tumwater, Wash.); Alix Mackey (State College, Pa.); Hannah Peay; Abby Smith (Seattle, Wash.); Megan Anderson (Kirkland, Wash.); Ashley Christie (Colville, Wash.); Rachel Kisling (Portland, Ore.); Erin Siebert (Bothell, Wash.).

Women's Novice 8+: Mellissa Severson-Hampton (Tacoma, Wash.); Laikyn Bentley-Vertress (Tumwater, Wash.); Yvonne Garton (Port Orchard, Wash.); Merrick Keim (Anchorage, Alaska); Siri Imsland (Colville, Wash.); Ashley Vangen (Tacoma, Wash.); Ashley Hull (Fargo, N.D.); Kaia Fink (Minneapolis, Minn.); Carolyn Ranten.

Men's Novice 4+: Nichole Fast (Tacoma, Wash.); Cullen Stafford (Tumwater, Wash.); Mitchel Brown (Olympia, Wash.); Bryan Pascoe (Puyallup, Wash.); Joseph Perez.

Women's Lightweight 4+: Natalie Journey (Poulsbo, Wash.); Erin Siebert (Bothell, Wash.); Rachel Kisling (Portland, Ore.); Ashley Hull (Fargo, N.D.); Mellissa Severson-Hampton (Tacoma, Wash.).

Men's Varsity Lightweight 4+: Natalie Journey (Poulsbo, Wash.); Chad Hall (Chugiak, Alaska); Sam Whedon (Vancouver, Wash.); Bryan Pascoe (Puyallup, Wash.); Stephen Strom (Seattle, Wash.).

Women's Pair: Audra Stafford (Tumwater, Wash.); Alix Mackey (State College, Pa.).

MEYER-LAMBERTH CUP RACES GO TO UPS: Puget Sound maintained its recent run of success against Pacific Lutheran in the Meyer-Lamberth Cup, sweeping the Lutes in four cup races last Saturday on American Lake. In the Mini Lamberth race featuring the women's novice 8 crews, the Loggers A boat won in 8:16.3, followed by the UPS B in 9:00.6. Pacific Lutheran placed third with a time of 9:25.7. In the Mini Meyer race featuring the men's novice 4s, the UPS A boat took the trophy with a time of 7:51.2, beating the PLU boat by 6.1 seconds. The Puget Sound B crew finished third with a time of 8:27.1. In the Lamberth Cup, the first of the two featured races, the UPS women's varsity 8 finished the 2000-meter course in a time of 7:40.4 compared to PLU's 8:20.4. In the Meyer Cup, Puget Sound clocked 6:48.6, followed by PLU's men's varsity 8 in a time of 6:59.2. The final race, the women's junior varsity 8, went to UPS in a time of 8:04.1 compared to PLU's 8:34.7.

- PLU -