GNAC Sports

Women's Rowing: WWU's Coons Wins Three Medals

July 23, 2008

Western Washington University's Audrey Coon captured three medals this past weekend at the US Rowing Club National Championships, a five-day regatta on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J.

Coon, who will be a senior at Western this fall, won gold in the women's open lightweight eight and intermediate lightweight four, and also silvered in the intermediate pair.

The 21-year-old Coon competed with the Thompson Boat Center Development Camp, a club team she has trained with this summer on the historic Potomac River in Washington , D.C.

Her shell cruised in the lightweight eight, winning by 13.21 seconds. TBC won the lightweight four by more than six seconds.

Coon, one of 1,800 athletes competing at the club national championships, was in Western's varsity eight last spring that won an unprecedented fourth straight NCAA Division II national championship. She has been a member of the last two national title-winning squads.

A graduate of Central Kenai High School in Kenai , Alaska , Coon was named a 2008 CoSIDA Women's At-Large Academic All-American earlier this spring.

A Spanish/elementary education major, Coon is maintaining a 3.96 (4.0 scale) grade point average. She has been the school's Female Scholar Athlete of the Year for all sports the past two seasons.

Rowing: Fuchs Named National Coach of Year

Western Washington University's John Fuchs has been named the 2008 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year. Click here to view the article about the Vikings on SI On Campus.

It is the second straight year that Fuchs has earned the distinction and third time overall. He also received the honor in 2005 and 2007.

The 42-year-old Fuchs, who just completed his 10th year as the Vikings' rowing coach, directed Western to its fourth straight national championship this spring. It is the first time that a school in any NCAA division has performed that feat in women's rowing.

The Vikings had a perfect score at nationals with the varsity eight and varsity four both winning by three boat lengths in the grand finals.

Western was ranked No.1 nationally in the US Rowing/CRCA NCAA II Coaches Poll all season long, receiving every first-place vote.

The Vikings have been No.1 in the final poll for six of the last seven seasons and have not lost to a Division II school in varsity eight or varsity four competition since 2004.

Under Fuchs' tutelage, Western has gone to nationals the last eight years, placing third in 2004 and second in 2002 and 2003. The Vikings competed in a NCAA championship for all divisions in 2001.

Fuchs, who has coached 15 CRCA All-Americans, earlier this season was named Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference Coach of the Year for the third time. He also received the NCRC award in 2001 and 2005.

Fuchs received his bachelor of arts degree at Western in 1988. He is a graduate of Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma.

Rowing: Vikings Win Another National Title

June 1, 2008

Western Washington made it four-for-four at the seventh annual NCAA Division II National Women's Rowing Championships at Rancho Cordova, Calif. Sunday morning.

The Vikings won a fourth straight national title at the Sacramento Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma. WWU was led by a core group of four seniors - Metta Gilbert (Helena , MT ), Samantha Marikis (Republic), Staci Reynolds (Vancouver/Columbia River) and Amelia Whitcomb (Spokane/Ferris) - who rowed in the national regatta for each of the championships.

Western led from start to finish in winning both the four and eight grand finals, each for the fourth straight year, to claim the national title. No team in any division had won three straight championships prior to the Vikings performing that feat last season.

“It's pretty impressive to accomplish what they've accomplished this year and for those seniors to finish out their careers like that, I can't even fathom what they're feeling right now,” said Western coach John Fuchs (10th year). “They're the perfect example of what a student-athlete is. They represent all that is great about it.”

Western finished with a perfect score of 20 points to 15 for UC San Diego, which was the runner-up for the second straight year. The Vikings were ranked No.1 in the USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA II Poll all season long, receiving every first-place vote.

The Vikings' eight won by almost three boat lengths, finishing the 2,000-meter course in 6:53.20. Western's four was victorious by almost three boat lengths with a winning time of 7:57.54.

Seated in Western's eight were coxswain Kristy Theodorson (Jr., Bothell/Inglemoor), stroke Reynolds, No.7 Gilbert, No.6 Meghan Woodman (Jr., Redmond), No.5 Gina Auriemma (Jr., Lake Forest Park/Shorecrest), No.4 Marikis , No.3 Whitcomb, No.2 Audrey Coon (Jr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central) and bow Madeleine Eckmann (So., Winthrop/Liberty Bell).

Gilbert, Marikis and Reynolds were named CRCA All-Americans last week (Reynolds for the second time).

Seated in the Vikings' four were coxswain Samantha Oberholzer (Fr., Bellevue), stroke Katie Tipton (Fr., Snohomish), No.3 Casey Mapes (Fr., Anchorage, AK /Service), No.2 Julia Munger (Jr., Palmer, AK/Colony) and bow Hilary Gastwirth (Jr., Issaquah/Liberty).

Western's eight finished with eight wins in 11 races this season, its only losses being against Division I competition. The Vikings, who already had won the unofficial NCAA II West Regional and Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference titles, have not lost to a NCAA II school in either eight or four competition since 2005.

Grand Final - Eights: 1. Western Washington 6:53.20, 2. UC San Diego 7:06.68, 3. Dowling 7:10.19, 4. Philadelphia 7:21.24. Grand Final - Fours: 1. Western Washington 7:57.54, 2. UC San Diego 8:10.95, 3. Nova Southeastern 8:25.10

Women's Golf: Vikings Finish Sixth in NCAAs

May 16, 2008

Western Washington's Breanna Carmichael tied for 15th and the Vikings placed sixth in the team standings at the NCAA Division II Women's Golf National Championships which ended Friday at the Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, Tex.

Western shot a final-round 32-over par 320 to finish the four-day, 72-hole tourney at 1,253. The Vikings were fourth after the first two days with rounds of 304 and 306, then dropped to fifth with a third-day round of 323.

Top-ranked Rollins (Fla.), which won four straight national titles from 2003 to 2006, rallied to take top honors with a score of 1,181 (294).

“We played 10 rounds in 15 days and I don't if we got fatigued or what, but we just couldn't get anything going the last two rounds,” said Western coach Bo Stephan.

Carmichael closed out the tourney with a round of 5-over 77, the Vikings' best of the day, for a 306 total.

Western's Catherine Kim (79) and Kaitlin Parker (85) tied for 29th at 315. Lianne Matkin tied for 36th at 324 (80) and Allison Gillette tied for 38th at 325 (84).

Rollins' Joanna Coe captured medalist honors, finishing at 1-under 287 (75). That was four shots better than Florida Southern's Heather Burgner, who had a 291 total (73).

It was the fourth national appearance as a NCAA member for Western, which had placed fifth in each of its three previous trips.