INDIANAPOLIS – The Washington women have returned to the top of the collegiate rowing world as the top-ranked Huskies swept all three grand finals to win the NCAA Championship Sunday. The Huskies won what will surely be a legendary varsity eight grand final before earning victories in the second eights and the fours.
 
Two years ago at Mercer Lake in New Jersey, the UW became the first team ever to sweep all three NCAA finals and two years later, have done it again. Additionally, the Huskies broke the NCAA Regatta record in all three race categories, breaking their own record in the fours.

"It was sheer human will," said head coach Yasmin Farooq. "We talk about it all the time; the strength of this team is its depth. When you look at the varsity eight, nearly everyone in that boat has put in a significant amount of time in another boat on our team. At every championship we always talk about our teamwork within each boat and across all boats. We talked about it last night before the finals, about not only pulling for the people in their boat and the people that are here but for all the incredible people back home supporting us this entire year."
 
The victory was the fifth in NCAA rowing championship in UW history, and their 12th overall, including seven national titles from the era prior to the NCAA regatta. It was also the Huskies' second crown in the three-year tenure of head coach Yasmin Farooq, who won it in 2017, her first year on Montlake. She also won the NCAA regatta as Stanford's coach in 2009.
 
A weekend of stormy weather, which necessitated extra cleanup of debris from the race course each day, altered the schedule throughout the regatta. On Sunday, to ensure that the championship-deciding races were held, the schedule was flipped so that the varsity eight – the top race, worth the most points – was run first, with the second varsity eight and the varsity four held immediately afterwards.
 
A similar scenario happened two weeks prior at Pac-12 Championships, when the UW, Cal and Stanford all entered the final scoring race of the day (in that case, the 3V8+ – not an NCAA event) tied on points. At Pac-12s, the Huskies won that race, earning their third straight conference title.
 
Varsity Eight
The Huskies opened the morning with the varsity eight final, where the crews were greeted with the best conditions of the weekend. The field was very tightly packed after 250 meters, with Michigan in the lead just ahead of the UW, and no crew having fallen off the pace. Michigan went on to extend its lead, with rival Ohio State in second and both Texas and Stanford having passed the Huskies.
 
At 1,000 meters, it was still Michigan in front of a tightly packed field, with Washington trailing in sixth place. At 1,500, Texas took the lead from the Wolverines, while the Huskies had caught Cal for fifth and had their sites set on moving up even more in the final standings.
 
As the other crews started to fade, the Huskies rallied and moved into second position with a couple hundred meters to go. As they headed down the stretch, it was anyone's race to win, but Washington maintained their sprint and crossed the finish line just seven-tenths of a second in front of the Longhorns.
 
The finish was nearly unprecedented as the six crews were separated by less than four seconds from first through sixth. Washington's time of 6:07.284 beat Texas' 6:07.971. Michigan was less than a second back in third at 6:08.659. The Huskies' time broke the old NCAA Regatta record (6:11.95; Stanford, 2009) by more than four seconds.

"I knew that we had it in us, we just had to do something special," said varsity eight coxswain Marley Avritt. "We had the support of our whole team. There was some magic out there. There is no one else I'd rather race with out there. We all trust each other one hundred percent. We knew what we had to do, we wanted to do it for one another but we also wanted to do it for everyone else watching."

"We were not an undefeated eight coming into the regatta and we were not an undefeated eight in this regatta," said team captain Marlee Blue. "We got third at the Pac-12's and we lost in our heat to Texas, and through all of that, we never lost faith in each other and the process. It was always just about building to this today."
 
Second Varsity Eight
Not surprisingly, it was another close start in the second varsity eight race. Texas had the early lead, with Michigan and Washington close behind, trading second position with each stroke, at 250 meters. The Huskies quickly established a clear second-place position behind the Longhorns, pulling ahead of the others in the second 500.
 
The Texas crew had a commanding lead of about seven seats over the Huskies, who were half a length up on Michigan and Stanford, who were fighting for third at the time. In the third 500, the UW crew made a move and the Dawgs drew nearly even with the Longhorns.
 
Texas held off the Husky move and passed 1,500 meters in the lead. Washington made another move in the final 100 meters and challenged the Longhorns once more. At the finish line, the Huskies – in a manner nearly identical to the varsity eight – crossed just in front for the victory. The Huskies' time of 6:11.262 was a little more than a second ahead of Texas (6:12.328). Michigan was third once more.
 
Washington's time smashed Brown's 2011 NCAA regatta record of 6:25.78.
 
Varsity Four
While the members of the UW varsity four were no doubt unaware, the Huskies had actually already clinched the NCAA title before the start of the V4+ grand final, having won the first two events. Even a sixth-place finish and a Texas win would leave the two teams tied on points, but the UW's win in the V8+ gave the Huskies the tie-breaker.
 
Washington moved into the front of the pack along with Stanford, Michigan and Texas in the early going. At 250, it was Michigan in front, while the UW was in fourth, not very far behind the leaders.
 
The crews continued to trade the lead with no boat having established an separation.
 
At the midway point, the Huskies have moved into second position, behind Stanford, and the UW boat had momentum. Just before 1,500 meters, Washington's four moved in front of the Cardinal and the Huskies had a chance to make history.
 
Through the final portion of the race, the Huskies held their lead, fending off the Cardinal in winning the race by more than a length. The Huskies' time was 6:52.451, with Stanford finishing in 6:55.642. Texas was third and Michigan fourth. Washington broke its own NCAA regatta mark of 7:07.103, set two years ago in New Jersey.
 
Overall
Washington scored the maximum 132 points to earn the overall title and, unsurprisingly given that they finished second and third in both eights races, Texas and Michigan came in second and third overall as well. The Longhorns compiled 125 points and the Wolverines had 119.
 
WASHINGTON'S NCAA LINEUPS
 
Varsity Eight
Shell: Title IX Tenacity
Cox: Marley Avritt (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor)
Stroke: Tabea Schendekehl (Dortmund, Germany)
7: Calina Schanze (Behlendorf, Germany)
6: Sofia Asoumanaki (Athens, Greece)
5: Marlee Blue (Seattle, Wash./Holy Names Academy)
4: Teal Cohen (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School)
3: Valentina Iseppi (Gardone Riviera, Italy)
2: Jennifer Wren (Seattle Wash./Bishop Blanchet)
Bow: Carmela Pappalardo (Salerno, Italy)
 
Second Varsity Eight
Shell: Title IX Sisterhood
Cox: Amanda Durkin (Hingham, Mass./Hingham)
Stroke: Klara Grube (Lübeck, Germany)
7: Lark Skov (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Steamboat Springs)
6: Elise Beuke (Sequim, Wash./Sequim)
5: Holly Dunford (Tadworth, U.K.)
4: Molly Gallaher (Snoqualmie, Wash./Skyline)
3: Mackenna Cameron (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth Int'l.)
2: Skylar Jacobson (Lakewood, Wash./Steilacoom)
Bow: Adele Likin (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt)
 
Varsity Four
Shell: EOC '96
Stroke: Dimitra Tsamopoulou (Athens, Greece)
3: Kieanna Stephens (Vancouver, B.C., Canada)
2: Holly Drapp (Tampa, Fla./Strawberry Crest)
Bow: Emma Vagen (Kent, Wash./Kentwood)
Cox: Dana Brooks (Tiburon, Calif./Redwood)
 
UW's All-Time NCAA Team Finishes
2019: 1st
2018: 2nd
2017: 1st
2016: 5th
2015: 4th
2014: 7th
2013: 6th
2012: 7th
2011: 8th
2010: 10th
2009: 7th
2008: 2nd
2007: 10th
2006: 7th
2005: 9th
2004: 5th
2003: 3rd
2002: 2nd
2001: 1st
2000: 2nd
1999: 3rd
1998: 1st
1997: 1st
 
UW's All-Time NCAA Event Champions
Fours (stroke to bow, coxswain)
1999 (Erin Becht, Anna Mickelson, Kara Nykrein, Kellie Schenk, Mary Whipple)
2000 (Lauren Estevenin, Carrie Stasiak, Heidi Hurn, Adrienne Hunter, Anne Heisburg)
2001 (Margherita Pallottino, Yvonne Stenken, Kattie Baurichter, Teegan Simonson, Maili Barber)
2008 (Rachel Powers, Jennifer Park, Charlene Franklin, Adrienne Martelli, Maggie Cheek)
2017 (Valentina Iseppi, Valerie Vogt, Julia Paulsen, Sophia Baker, Marley Avritt)
2019 (Dimitra Tsamopoulou, Kieanna Stephens, Holly Drapp, Emma Vagen, Dana Brooks)
 
Second Eights (coxswain, stroke to bow)
2002 (Anne Hessburg, Jenni Vesnaver, Jessica Harm, Shannon Oates, Erin Becht, Sanda Hangan, Margherita Pallottino, Erin Curry, Mandy Nelson)
2017 (Isabella Corriere, Marlee Blue, Maggie Phillips, Carmela Pappalardo, Phoebe Spoors, Karlé Pittsinger, Bella Chilczuk, Anna Thornton, Calina Schanze)
2018 (Marley Avritt, Brooke Pierson, Katy Gillingham, Carmela Pappalardo, Karlé Pittsinger, Julia Paulsen, Jennifer Wren, Jessica Thoennes, Calina Schanze)
2019 (Amanda Durkin, Klara Grube, Lark Skov, Elise Beuke, Holly Dunford, Molly Gallaher, Mackenna Cameron, Skylar Jacobson, Adele Likin)
 
First Eights (coxswain, stroke to bow)
1997 (Alida Purves, Sabina Telenska, Denni Nessler, Kelly Horton, Katy Dunnet, Annie Christie, Jan Williamson, Tristine Glick, Kari Green)
1998 (Missy Collins, Sabina Telenska, Denni Nessler, Kelly Horton, Katy Dunnet, Annie Christie, Rachel Dunnet, Vanessa Tavalero, Kari Green)
2001 (Mary Whipple, Lauren Estevenin, Nicole Borges, Anna Mickelson, Rika Geyser, Adrienne Hunter, Carrie Stasiak, Nicole Rogers, Annabel Ritchie)
2002 (Mary Whipple, Lauren Estevenin, Annabel Ritchie, Anna Mickelson, Heidi Hurn, Adrienne Hunter, Carrie Stasiak, Kara Nykreim, Yvonneke Stenken)
2017 (Phoebe Marks-Nicholes, Chiara Ondoli, Elise Beuke, Brooke Pierson, Katy Gillingham, Brooke Mooney, Tabea Schendekehl, Jessica Thoennes, Annemieke Schanze)
2019 (Marley Avritt, Tabea Schendekehl, Calina Schanze, Sofia Asoumanaki, Marlee Blue, Teal Cohen, Valentina Iseppi, Jennifer Wren, Carmela Pappalardo)
 
All-Time NCAA Rowing Team Championships
Brown – 7
Washington – 5
California – 4
Ohio State – 3
Virginia – 2
Stanford – 1
Harvard – 1
 
All-Time NCAA Rowing Event (V8+, 2V8+, V4+) Championships
Washington – 16
Brown – 14
Virginia – 9
California – 7
Ohio State – 6
Yale – 4
Princeton – 3
Michigan – 2
Stanford – 2
Clemson – 1
Harvard – 1
Minnesota – 1
USC – 1
 
UW's Pre-NCAA (NCRC) Women's National Championships
Varsity Eight*
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1987
1988
* V8+ winner was considered national champion prior to NCAA regatta
 
Junior Varsity Eight
1981
1982
1983
1987
1989
1994
 
Varsity Four
1987