Wednesday, May 22, 2024
by Evan O'Kelly, Assistant Commissioner For Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – Western Washington sophomore Mia Marie Knipe was voted by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference coaches as the 2024 Rower of the Year, headlining the all-conference team which was released on Thursday.

Knipe is the first Viking to claim the conference’s top rowing award, after she helped pilot the Vikings to the team title at the 2024 GNAC Women’s Rowing Championships on May 18 in Gold River, Calif.

$-2023 first-team all-GNAC | ^-2022 first-team all-GNAC

WWU’s Janisa Cook was named the GNAC co-Coxswain of the Year, along with Aleksia Haugen of Seattle Pacific. WWU’s Kate Baring was selected as the GNAC Newcomer of the Year, SPU’s Emmerson Spencer claimed GNAC Freshman of the Year honors, and Viking head coach John Fuchs picked up his second GNAC Coach of the Year award.

Cook is the Vikings varsity 8+ coxswain, and led WWU to the GNAC title in that event last weekend. She is the second Viking to earn GNAC Coxswain of the Year, joining 2022 selection Adele Houston. Baring meanwhile was the second straight Viking to claim the GNAC Newcomer of the Year honor, after Jenae Pusich won the award in 2023.

The Vikings clocked a varsity 8+ time of 7:03.090, posting a nearly seven-second margin of victory ahead of second-place Central Oklahoma. Along with Cook, rowers Emma Clark, Reed Chesnek and Madeline Kidd were WWU’s all-conference selections from their varsity 8+ boat. WWU’s Sarah Ernst, who helped her team claim valuable points with a third-place finish in the varsity 4+ race, also garnered all-conference recognition.

Haugen is the first Falcon to earn the GNAC Coxswain of the Year honor, as she led SPU to the varsity 4+ title with a time of 8:09.720 on Lake Natoma. Spencer is the first Falcon to win the GNAC Freshman of the Year honor, as she played a key role on her team’s varsity 4+ title as well. SPU’s other representative on the all-conference team was rower Natalie Korolenko, a senior who competed on the Falcons’ varsity 8+ crew.

Central Oklahoma landed a pair of all-conference selections, with seniors Victoria Petschnig and Faith Brooks claiming the honors. Brooks, the reigning NCAA Division II Women’s Rowing Athlete of the Year, earned all-conference recognition for the third straight season after helping the varsity 8+ unit to a second-place finish at the GNAC Championships. Petschnig was also in that boat, which posted a time of 7:10.480 in Gold River.

Reigning national champion Cal Poly Humboldt had three rowers earn all-conference, with seniors Dana Foley and Kealey Scott and junior Sonja Scollon each landing on the list. Foley was the 2023 GNAC Rower of the Year and Scollon was the 2023 GNAC Coxswain of the Year, before the duo went on to lead the Lumberjacks to their second NCAA Division II national title.

All four of the GNAC’s women’s rowing teams earned berths into the 2024 NCAA Division II Women’s Rowing Championships, which are set for May 31-June 1 in Bethel, Ohio.