WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – All three of No. 15 Washington State University rowing's boats finished in the top-3 of their respective heats Saturday, to advance to the C Finals at the 2017 NCAA Championships held at Mercer Lake under sunny and breezy conditions.

The second day of competition consisted of two C/D semifinals and two A/B semifinals for each of the three events, based on Friday's results. WSU competed in the C/D semifinals in each event, where the top-3 moved on to the C final Sunday for the chance at 13th-18th place, while the rest moved to the D Final for 19th-22nd place. 

In the first race of the day, the varsity eight crew battled out of lane four, jumping into a fight for second with Northeastern, as Syracuse jumped out into the lead. The Cougars passed Northeastern by the 1,000-meter mark, holding a half a second lead for second place, a half a second behind Syracuse. In the final 500 meters, the Cougars used a push to pull head of the Orange and row across the finish line first by two seconds with a time of 6:22.720. Syracuse was second and Northeastern third, as they will meet WSU once again in the C Final Sunday at 6:12 a.m./9:12 a.m. ET.

In the second race of the day for WSU, the Cougar second varsity eight (coxswain-Ellie Burg, stroke-Jenna Kennedy, Taija Thompson, Emily Thomson, Ivy Elling Quaintance, Chloe Rogers, Lori VerMurlen, Jessi Howe, bow-Renee Kemp) started similarly to the varsity eight crew, as it rowed into third early as Iowa jumped out to a big lead followed by Northeastern. The Cougars caught Northeastern by the 500-meter mark before catching up to Iowa before crossing the 1500-meter mark. The Cougars continued to pull away, finishing over 2 seconds ahead of Northeastern and Iowa with a time of 6:36.594. Northeastern was second, just 0.21 seconds ahead of Iowa in third, as those two will join WSU in the C final Sunday at 5:48 a.m. PT/8:48 a.m. ET. 

The day concluded with the varsity four races as WSU's varsity four crew (coxswain-Mikaelyn Davis, stroke-Kamila Ondrackova, Sue Yu, Rosalina Torcivia, bow-Brittany Brooks) battled in the first C/D semifinal. Brown took an early lead as the rest of the field stayed bunched up. The Cougars were able to pull away from UCF by the 1500-meter mark, but Gonzaga pulled away from WSU as the Cougars finished third with a time of 7:27.749. Brown won the heat and Gonzaga was second as they will compete against WSU in the C final Sunday at 5:24 a.m. PT/8:24 a.m. ET.

Racing concludes Sunday with the first WSU race starting at 5:24 a.m. PT/8:24 a.m. ET.


2017 NCAA ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mercer Lake – West Windsor, N.J.
May 26-28, 2017
Saturday, May 27 – Day Two

Division I Eights
C/D Semifinal 1
1.    Washington State, 6:22.720
2.    Syracuse, 6:24.926
3.    Northeastern, 6:27.010
4.    Navy, 6:29.430
5.    Massachusetts, 6:35.666

Washington State Varsity Eight Lineup
coxswain-Jenna Mangiagli 
stroke-Emily Morrow
7-Mihaela-Teodora Berindei
6-Ieva Adomaviciute
5-Lucie Weissova
4-Nicole Hare
3-Isabella Watt
2-Kristel Tohu
bow-Paige Danielson

Division I Second Varsity Eights
C/D Semifinal 2
1.    Washington State, 6:36.594
2.    Northeastern, 6:38.783
3.    Iowa, 6:38.999
4.    Gonzaga, 6:39.674
5.    Massachusetts, 6:53.851

Washington State Second Varsity Eight Lineup 
coxswain-Ellie Burg
stroke-Jenna Kennedy
7-Taija Thompson
6-Emily Thomson
5-Ivy Elling Quaintance
4-Chloe Rogers
3-Lori VerMurlen
2-Jessi Howe
bow-Renee Kemp

Division I Varsity Fours
C/D Semifinal 1
1.     Brown, 7:19.359
2.    Gonzaga, 7:24.856
3.    Washington State, 7:27.749
4.    UCF, 7:35.784
5.    Massachusetts, 7:46.231

Washington State Varsity Four Lineup
coxswain-Mikaelyn Davis
4-Kamila Ondrackova
3-Sue Yu
2-Rosalina Torcivia
bow-Brittany Brooks