Monday, March 27, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – Cal Poly Humboldt rowing put its conference competition through the paces on Saturday at the Husky Open in Seattle, Washington to come up with three wins and earn GNAC Team of the Week honors.

The Lumberjacks’ varsity 4+ was also named the GNAC Women’s Rowing Crew of the Week after winning both of its races at the regatta. The varsity 4+ crew consisted of junior Taylor Carrington (coxswain), senior Marie-Claire Desplancke, sophomore Chloe Pieper-Wasem, freshman Gwen Sutton and sophomore Amelia Marks.

They opened their day with a win in their first race, finishing in a time of 8:12.502. The Lumberjacks were dominant in the race, leading wire to wire and finishing six seconds ahead of second-place Seattle Pacific. They were also 18 seconds clear of Division I Portland in third place.

The varsity 4+ maintained their winning ways in their second race of the day, taking the victory in a time of 8:23.635 and beating Seattle Pacific by eight seconds. The Lumberjacks had to battle to come up with the win, taking the lead in the second half of the race to lead at the 1,500-meter mark and through to the finish.

Cal Poly Humboldt’s varsity 8+ also had a pair of strong performances, opening the regatta with a second-place finish with a time of 6:59.873. Humboldt battled at the front for much of the race leading at the 500-meter, 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter marks. The Lumberjacks finished just two seconds behind Portland and 13 seconds ahead of third-place Seattle Pacific. They were also 17 seconds clear of Western Washington.

The varsity  8+ went one better in their second race, taking the win in a time of 7:17.415 and finishing 12 seconds ahead of Seattle Pacific. The Falcons took the early lead by crossing the 500-meter mark in 1:37.5, 13 seconds ahead of the Lumberjacks who were in fourth at the first timing interval. Humboldt surged back through the next 500 meters to turn the deficit into a four-second advantage before leading to the finish.  

Assistant coach Patrick Hyland is upbeat about the performances at the Husky Open and views the results as a positive step forward in the early stages of the season.

“It is an excellent progression from our race last weekend at Sacramento State to this weekend in Seattle against our Division II competitors,” Hyland said. “We are excited to see them again at Covered Bridge.”

Cal Poly Humboldt will be on the water again this weekend as it hosts the Humboldt Regatta on Saturday for its lone home competition of the season in Eureka, California before competing at the Covered Bridge Regatta on April 8 in Lowell, Oregon.