WSU boats advance at NCAA finals
Washington State’s varsity eight boat advanced to the semifinals to highlight opening-day action at the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships Friday at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center.
In addition, the Cougars’ second varsity eight and varsity four each moved into today’s repechage races.
“It is exciting to see us compete against the best teams in the nation and a real tribute to the level of racing,” said WSU coach Jane LaRiviere in a press release. “The best of the best are here and if you’re not ready to bring it you are going to miss out on things by a half or even 10th of a second.”
The Cougars’ varsity eight boat opened the day by finishing fourth in Heat 3 in a time of 6 minutes, 28.98 seconds, narrowly missing out on third place. California, the top-ranked varsity eight boat in the nation, won the heat in a time of 6:23.79, followed by Virginia (6:24.95) and Princeton (6:28.28). Tennessee rounded out the heat in fifth place with a time of 6:30.98.
WSU trailed after the opening 500 meters before moving past Tennessee after 1,000 meters. The Cougars closed the margin against Princeton by the third split to less than half a second but drew no closer the final 500 meters as the Tigers held on to third.
By placing fourth in the heat, WSU moved into Friday afternoon’s repechage race, where it battled a stronger head wind than the morning race to finish second behind USC in a time of 6:41.68. USC, WSU and third-place Michigan advance to today’s semifinals.
In the second varsity eight heat, WSU finished fourth with a time of 6:52.38, trailing Brown (6:44.46), Washington (6:47.18) and Virginia (6:49.22). Wisconsin (6:52.95) and Princeton (7:08.53) rounded out the top six. By winning the heat, Brown moves into Sunday’s Grand Final while the Cougars move into today’s repechage race.
In WSU’s varsity four heat, the Cougars displayed a strong final kick to hold off Tennessee and secure fifth place in 7:46.87. Virginia won the heat in 7:27.07, followed by Michigan State (7:31.83), Brown (7:34.28) and Ohio State (7:42.17).
“I am pleased with our performance,” LaRiviere said.
Spiders soccer
The Spokane Spiders and Cascade Surge played to a 1-1 tie at McCulloch Stadium on the campus of Willamette University in Salem, Ore.
Indians baseball
Individual game tickets will go on sale Monday at the Avista Stadium ticket office for the 2008 Spokane Indians season.
Tickets will be available by phone at 535-2922 and by using Visa, Mastercard or American Express. Fans can also purchase tickets online at www.spokaneindiansbaseball.com. The Avista Stadium office will be open Monday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tickets range from $6 reserved bench seats to $9 upper box seats.
Tickets are also available through all TicketsWest locations, or by calling 325-SEAT or 1-800-325-SEAT or at www.ticketswest.com.