Marley Adds Another NCAA Championship

NCAA Women’s Rowing 2018

Friday, May 25,2018

SARASOTA. Fla. – The No. 1-ranked Washington women's rowing team began competition at the 2018 NCAA Championships with wins in all three of its heats Friday morning at Nathan Benderson Park.

The Huskies' first and second varsity eights, and varsity four, will advance to A/B semifinals on Saturday by virtue of first-place finishes in heats on Friday. The top three finishers in each of two A/B semis will advance to Sunday's grand final. Washington entered the regatta as the top seed in all three categories.

"Mission accomplished," UW head coach Yasmin Farooq said afterward. "The goal was to advance and also to finish as high in the heats as possible, especially with that cross-wind. The forecast for tomorrow is for even more wind, in the same direction, so I'm really glad that we won all of those races."

Washington overcame the oppressively humid conditions for its three wins. In the Huskies' first competition of the day, the varsity eight – featuring newly-crowned Pac-12 Athlete of the Year Brooke Mooney and Newcomer of the Year Sofia Asoumanaki – rowed to a comfortable win over second-place Princeton. Washington was in front the entire 2,000 meters, consistently lengthening its lead throughout the course.

The Huskies won the heat in 6:17.517, nearly six seconds in front of Princeton, which also earned a direct trip to the A/B semifinals. Yale, Syracuse and Gonzaga finished third through fifth, as the teams finished in seed order.

In the second varsity eight heat, Washington's crew, coxed by Marley Avritt and stroked by senior Brooke Pierson, rowed a similar race to that of the varsity eight, although more comfortably. Before the 1,000-meter mark, the Huskies had already separated from second-place Iowa by more than a length of open water.

The Huskies' 2V8 rowed to a dominant victory, with several lengths of open water between the UW and second-place Iowa, which held off USC to earn the direct berth in the A/B semi. The Huskies won in 6:24.756, more than 12 second ahead of the Hawkeyes, who crossed the line in 6:36.964.

Washington's varsity four, with stroke rower Anna Porteous and coxswain Madison Mariani, wrapped up the morning with another open-water victory. The UW four, like both eights before it, led the entire distance as the race for second, between Brown and Stanford, was much closer. The Huskies won in 7:05.405, while the Cardinal took the No. 2 spot in 7:18.708.

Saturday's schedule currently calls for the Huskies' V8+ to race at 7:30 a.m. ET/4:30 a.m. PT, with 2V8+ at 7:46 ET/4:46 PT and the V4+ at 8:02 ET/5:02 PT. (That is the new schedule, which was updated Friday at about 5:00 p.m. PT.)May 26, 2018

May 26,2018

SARASOTA. Fla. – Washington and California, the top two women's rowing teams in the Pac-12 and in the nation, battled down to the wire at the 2018 NCAA Rowing Championships, finishing first and second in all three grand finals, but the Golden Bears won two out of those three to earn the national title.

Washington's second varsity eight, dominant throughout the weekend, won its grand final, but Cal took the varsity eight and the varsity four to earn the team crown with 130 points to the Huskies' 128. Texas (115 points) was third and another Pac-12 team, Stanford (104), earned fourth place.

"What a great team effort," UW head coach Yasmin Farooq said. "Every single boat stepped up in the final. The varsity laid down a blistering start and threw down the gauntlet after finishing behind Cal in the semi. For both of those crews to face one another twice in the same day at the national championship made it an epic race. Congrats to Cal for a fantastic win. We definitely threw everything we had at them."

"The varsity four and the varsity eight were both such good races," said UW senior Karle Pittsinger, the four-seat in the second varsity eight. "It was a testament to some great racing with Cal and all of the boats. It's great to see how competitive the NCAA Championships are, and there's no doubt in my mind that we poured every bit out there today."

Due to a storm headed towards the Gulf Coast, the entire schedule of finals was moved from Sunday to Saturday, meaning that all of the teams rowed both in semifinals in the morning and finals in the afternoon.

After an early morning of semifinal races, it became clear that the championship would likely come down to the two old rivals, as Cal and the UW dominated the semis and, along with Texas, were two of only three teams to send all three of their boats to grand finals.

It was also apparent that the winner of the varsity eight grand final, which was run before the 2V8 and the V4, would be very difficult to overtake, thanks to the higher number of points given to the top race and to the likelihood that the two teams would finish in the top-two spots in all three finals.

In that varsity eight race, Washington rowed aggressively and held the lead as the two boats crossed the 500 and 1,000-meter marks. But Cal made its move in the third 500 and crossed the finish line in 6:14.857, ahead of Washington's time of 6:16.535.

Washington gave itself a chance at the team title when the second varsity eight earned the most comfortable victory of any of the finals. The UW boat, coxed by Marley Avritt and stroked by Brooke Pierson, went wire-to-wire and won in 6:21.081, more than six seconds ahead of Cal (6:27.201).

"The 2V simply dominated the weekend," Farooq said. "That group has been pushing the varsity eight all year, and it was really wonderful to see them get to spread their wings here and become national champions."

Heading into the varsity four final, Washington needed to finish two or more spots higher than Cal to win the title, as even a Husky win with the Bears second would result in a tie in the points, which would favor the Bears thanks to their higher finish in the varsity eight.

Very early on, Cal set took a narrow lead, but by 500 meters, the Huskies had drawn even as the two boats raced side-by-side nearly the whole way. While the outcome with regard to first and second was in doubt throughout, it was also clear that the UW and Cal would again finish in the top two spots, ruling out the possibility of UW winning the overall crown.

In the end, the Bears won the race with a blistering time of 7:00.798. Washington was second in 7:01.626. Both times were faster than the NCAA Regatta record of 7:07.103, set last year by the Huskies.

"The varsity fours race is one of the best races I have ever seen at the NCAAs," Farooq said. "Those women rowed out of their minds. It was the final race of the regatta and they were literally stroke for stroke with Cal for the final 1,500 meters of that race. They gave the finish-line crowd the best show of the day.

"I'm so proud of this team and what they have accomplished this year," Farooq concluded. "We worked hard for this finish and it really makes you appreciate everything it takes to win a team national championship."

Earlier in the day, Washington finished second to Cal in its varsity eight semifinal, crossing the finish line 1.2 seconds behind the Golden Bears. Meanwhile, the Huskies raced to clear, open-water victories in the second varsity eight and varsity four semis.

The Huskies added to their legacy of NCAA successes with their 22nd straight top-10 finish (in 22 all-time NCAA Championship regattas), their fourth runner-up finish, their 11th top-four and their 13th boat championship (in the second varsity eight).

WASHINGTON'S NCAA LINEUPS

VARSITY 8+ (I EIGHTS)
Shell: Title IX Sisterhood
Cox: Phoebe Marks-Nicholes (Sr., Seattle, Wash./Ballard)
Stroke: Chiara Ondoli (Sr., Angera, Italy)
7: Elise Beuke (Jr., Sequim, Wash./Sequim)
6: Marlee Blue (Jr., Seattle, Wash./Holy Names Academy)
5: Sofia Asoumanaki (Fr., Athens, Greece)
4: Brooke Mooney (Sr., Peru, Vt./Vermont Academy)
3: Tabea Schendekehl (So., Dortmund, Germany)
2: Valentina Iseppi (So., Gardone Riviera, Italy)
Bow: Anna Thornton (Jr., Nottingham, U.K.)

SECOND VARSITY 8+ (II EIGHTS)
Shell: Jean LaFramboise
Cox: Marley Avritt (So., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor)
Stroke: Brooke Pierson (Sr., Oak Harbor, Wash./West Potomac (Va.))
7: Katy Gillingham (Jr., Seattle, Wash./Holy Names Academy)
6: Carmela Pappalardo (So., Salerno, Italy)
5: Karle Pittsinger (Sr., Lake Chelan, Wash./Lake Chelan)
4: Julia Paulsen (Sr., Seattle, Wash./The Bush School)
3: Jennifer Wren (Jr., Seattle, Wash./Bishop Blanchet)
2: Jessica Thoennes (Sr., Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista)
Bow: Calina Schanze (Jr., Behlendorf, Germany)

VARSITY 4+ (FOURS)
Shell: Erin O'Connell '96
Stroke: Anna Porteous (Sr., Kingston upon Thames, U.K.)
3: Sara Clark (Sr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar)
2: Klara Grube (Fr., Lübeck, Germany)
Bow: Skylar Jacobson (So., Lakewood, Wash./Steilacoom)
Cox: Madison Mariani (Jr., Snoqualmie, Wash./Mount Si)

UW's All-Time NCAA Team Finishes
2018: 2nd
2017: 1^st

Instagram June1, 2018

marls_avrittI am grateful to have won the national championship in the second varsity eight, but I am much more thankful to have done it with this team. Words cannot describe what this year, this team, and especially the people in this boat have done for my rowing career. This year I truly learned the importance of a strong team, and for that I am incredibly grateful to have been a part of it, and now to be able to carry it with me these next two years. The last few weeks in this boat have given me a new love for rowing that I never thought I could achieve. From all of the laughs, yells, harmonies, tricks, tears, jokes, and pure speed that has been generated in this boat, I have loved every single minute of it. While yes, I was lucky enough to win NCAA’s, I was way luckier to have done it with this group of people. Long live the jungle. #chop #ay #maintain #swamp #jungle

Love you Marley