April 21, 2012

LOS ANGELES - Competing for the final time this season on their home course, the LMU women's rowing team won a trio of head-to-head races against West Coast Conference rival Santa Clara Saturday morning.

"I am very pleased with the performance of our team today, especially the varsity four," said LMU coordinator of rowing Vaclav Kacir.

The Lions' varsity eight won easily over the Broncos, finishing in a time of 7:43.6. Santa Clara would cross the finish line in 8:07.8.

The second varsity eight race was a battle from start to finish with LMU (8:06.4) edging Santa Clara (8:07.8) by just over one second.

The Lions raced two varsity four boats, with the two coming in 1-2, followed by Santa Clara. LMU's "exhibition" lineup of coxswain Amanda Ballard, Kelsey Dunbar, P.K Carey-Jones, Jill Dannis and Stephanie Hess earned a winning time of 9:04.8. LMU's second boat was second in 9:32.2 followed by the Broncos in 9:50.2.

Championship racing begins next week as the Lions head to Sacramento's Lake Natoma for the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship. Two weeks later LMU travels back to Lake Natoma to contend for the West Coast Conference Championship title.

COMPLETE RESULTS/LMU LINEUPS

Varsity 8+
LMU - 7:43.6
Santa Clara - 8:07.8
LMU Lineup - Jen Koester (cox), Kat Regan, Leanne McNamee, Hanna Osborne, Margaret Boze, Jessica Kegel, Shannon Craig, Sydney Sutton-Liswith, Chris Erhart

Second Varsity 8+
LMU - 8:06.4
Santa Clara - 8:07.8
LMU Lineup - Amanda Ballard (cox), Emily Holland, Danielle Ciraulo, P.K Carey-Jones, Ku'ulei Lake, Kelsey Dunbar, Paulina Lindstedt, Jill Dannis, Katherine Wikholm

Varsity 4+
LMU Exhibition - 9:04.8
LMU - 9:32.2
Santa Clara - 9:50.2
LMU Exhibition Lineup - Amanda Ballard (cox), Kelsey Dunbar, P.K Carey-Jones, Jill Dannis, Stephanie Hess
Kellyn Freire (cox), Jasmine Gonzales, Angelina Prat, Diana Safa, Noe Vargas