SEATTLE – The senior men and junior women won the featured races Saturday at the Washington rowing program's 118th Class Day Regatta on Montlake Cut.
 
The victories by those two crews kept in place a pattern that has held for much of the current decade, whereby a class wins as juniors and then again as seniors, with the men's and women's programs staggered by a year. The men's Class of 2019 won the George M. Varnell Men's Eight last year as juniors and again on Saturday as seniors, with the classes of 2013, 2015 and 2017 having won as juniors and seniors before them.
 
On the women's side, the junior Class of 2020 won the Seattle Times Women's Eight Saturday for first time and will next year try to replicate what the classes of 2014, 2016 and 2018 all did the last six seasons, winning as juniors and seniors.
 
"I'm excited for the seniors," said UW men's head coach Michael Callahan. "I feel like this is a class similar to the class of 2009, where they're a group that has changed the boathouse in terms of team culture and team work ethic. It's good to see them win. They're a group of guys that has really developed over the years. Hopefully it's a prelude for what's going to happen the rest of the season."
 
"We knew that the juniors had a lot of experience and a lot of power, as well as some great technical rowers," Washington women's coach Yasmin Farooq added. "In the last 500, it looked pretty solid for the juniors and then here came the seniors. They made it exciting. That was the closest Class Day race I've seen here. I loved every minute of it."
 
George M. Varnell Men's Eight
The men 's eight race was tight and competitive throughout, though the seniors were in front from wire to wire. Coxed by Kimmons Wilson and with Dutchman Michiel Mantel in the stroke seat, the Class of 2019 won the race by open water in a time of 5:36.48. The tightest racing was for second and third place as the juniors and sophomores raced stroke-for-stroke for much of the 2,000 meters. At 500 meters, the sophomores were just six-tenths of a second in front of the juniors, and had essentially doubled that small margin by 1,000 meters. But by the 1,500-meter mark the juniors had surged ahead and rowed to a second-place finish with the sophomores third and the freshmen fourth.


 
The Seattle Times Women's Eight
The women's feature race was a close one as all four boats remained within striking distance of one another through the majority of the 2,000 meters. The junior crew, coxed by Marley Avritt, took the lead from the beginning, with the seniors rowing second for most of the way in a tightly packed group of four shells. In the final 500 meters, the juniors and seniors added some separation on the other two crews, the Class of 2020 maintained its advantage and won by about a six seats, in a time of 6:19.338. The seniors surged in the final few hundred meters to finish a close second, in 6:21.766. The freshmen took third and the sophomores were fourth.
 


Men's Varsity / Freshman Challenge
The men's "classless" race was contested by four fours – two each of freshmen and upperclassmen. The classless boat coxed by Isabel Klein went to the front from the start, rowing in lane one. The other classless crew, coxed by Nicole Gooding in lane three, rowed in the second spot throughout the first portion of the race, just ahead of a freshman boat in lane two. In the end, the two veteran crews moved ahead of the two freshman boats, with the lane-one entry winning in a time of 6:20.281, about four seats ahead of the second classless boat (6:22.484).
 
Women's Varsity / Novice Challenge
The first race of the morning featured a trio of fours, two of them made up of freshman rowers with a sophomore coxswain and the third featuring members of the freshman, sophomore and junior classes. The freshman boat coxed by Maddy Cope took the lead in the early going and had just reached an open-water lead by 500 meters. That boat, with freshman Claire Sirmon in the stroke seat, continued to increase its lead heading into the Montlake Cut. The freshman four led from wire to wire, winning the race in a time of 7:27.400, more than 10 seconds ahead of the classless four that came in second.
 
As a part of the Class Day weekend, Washington announced its team captains and winner of awards for top GPA and most inspirational. Here are the winners:
 
2019 Team Captains
Women: Marlee Blue
Men: Ben Davison
 
Pigott Award Winners (most inspirational)
Women: Calina Schanze
Men: Simon van Dorp
 
Schaller Award Winners (highest GPA)
Women: Ava Trogus
Men: Chase Deitner
 
Up Next
The UW men and women will host the Husky Open next Saturday, March 30, starting at 8:00 a.m. on Montlake Cut, a regatta featuring juniors and masters races along with college action.
 
About Washington Rowing
Rowing at University of Washington was established in 1901 with support from the local business community. In 1903, Washington entered its first intercollegiate race and defeated California, starting their storied "Cal Dual" rivalry. From this beginning, UW crews became the champions in the nation, winning the Gold Medal in the Olympics in 1936 as described in the New York Times bestseller The Boys in the Boat. UW has continued its tradition of winning championships and Olympic medals, and today is one of the best university rowing programs in the world. With its state-of-the-art training facility located on the UW campus right on the shores of Lake Washington, surrounded by mountains and in close proximity to the iconic Montlake Cut, Washington Rowing attracts the best men and women student-athletes from the Pacific Northwest and around the world. More information at GoHuskies.com, WashingtonRowing.com and @UW_Rowing.
 
Class Day Lineups
 
Race 1 – Women's Varsity / Novice Challenge
 
Lane 1: Freshmen Class of 2022
Boat: Wells
Stroke: Mia Middleton (Denver, Colo./Arapahoe)
3: Jada Rasmussen (Okanogan, Wash./Okanogan)
2: Katie Dolan (Barrington, R.I./Barrington)
Bow: Grace Grimsted (Olympia, Wash./Olympia)
Cox: Ana Moloney '21 (Oakland, Calif./St. Ignatius)
 
Lane 1: Freshmen Class of 2022
Boat: Cascade
Stroke: Claire Sirmon (Wenatchee, Wash./Wenatchee)
3: Claire Marion (San Marcos, Calif./San Marcos)
2: Jillian Pape (Oak Harbor, Wash./Oak Harbor)
Bow: Brittani Shappell (Bellingham, Wash./Walworth Barbour)
Cox: Maddy Cope '21 (Olympia, Wash./Olympia)
 
Lane 3: Classless
Boat: Allegra
Stroke: Sierra Williams '22 (Seattle, Wash./Cleveland STEM)
Stroke: Isabelle Knowles (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Isl.)
2: Tea Federspiel '21 (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue)
Bow: Megan Andersen '22 (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline)
Cox: Lauren Preston '22 (Newtown, Pa./Notre Dame)
 
Race 2 – Men's Varsity / Freshman Challenge
 
Lane 1: Classless (Varsity 2019, '20, '21)
Boat: Lou Gellermann
Stroke: Cole Zwierzynski '20 (Portland, Ore./Franklin)
3: Felix Reinhold '20 (Cape Town, South Africa)
2: Ian Engstrom '21 (Lincoln, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury)
Bow: Ben Davison '19 (Inverness, Fla./Citrus)
Cox: Isabel Klein '21 (Seattle, Wash./University Prep)
 
Lane 2: Freshmen Class of 2022
Boat: Husky Clipper 2
Stroke: Nathan Klaff (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge)
3: Jack Kirtley (St. Charles, Ill./Marmion)
2: Alex Dumitriu Carcoana (Fargo, N.D./Northfield Mt. Hermon)
Bow: Chandler Kovacevich (Snohomish, Wash./Monroe)
Cox: Zach Casler (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor)
 
Lane 3: Classless (Varsity 2019, '20, '21, '22)
Boat: Little Husky
Stroke: Carsten Rossen '20 (Seattle, Wash./Cleveland)
3: Pau Turina '20 (Portland Ore./Benson Tech)
2: Sebastian Ritter '21 (Regensburg, Germany)
Bow: Max Rennie '19 (Deniniquin, Australia)
Cox: Nicole Gooding '22 (Portland, Ore./Lake Ridge)
 
Lane 4: Freshmen Class of 2022
Boat: Class of '92
Stroke: Ryan Wilkerson (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
3: Odin Slade Byrd (Chicaco, Ill./Whitney M. Young)
2: Jakob Grænge Hansen (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Bow: Jack Premzic (Davis, Calif./Davis Senior)
Cox: Max Schwartzkopff (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
 
Race 3 – Seattle Times Women's Eight
 
Lane 1: Seniors Class of 2019
Boat: Jean LaFramboise
Cox: Amanda Durkin (Hingham, Mass./Hingham)
Stroke: Calina Schanze (Behlendorf, Germany)
7: Marlee Blue (Seattle, Wash./Holy Names Academy)
6: Jennifer Wren (Seattle Wash./Bishop Blanchet)
5: Chiara Ondoli '18 (Angera, Italy)
4: Annaka Green '20 (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley)
3: Carmen McNamara-Smith '22 (Seattle, Wash./Center School)
2: Adele Likin (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt)
Bow: Laurel Safranek '21 (Anchorage, Alaska/W. Anchorage)
 
Lane 2: Freshmen Class of 2022
Boat: H.W. McCurdy
Cox: Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills)
Stroke: McKenna Bryant (Kent, Wash./Kennedy Catholic)
7: Kieanna Stephens (Vancouver, B.C., Canada)
6: Sophia Chaffey (Redmond, Wash./Bellevue Ch ristian)
5: Ella Cossill (Gold Coast, Australia)
4: Hallie Jensen (Spokane, Wash./Lakeside)
3: Mackenna Cameron (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth Int'l.)
2: Marguerite Trost (Nashville, Tenn./Harpeth Hall School)
Bow: Denise Devlyn (Austin, Texas/St. Stephen's Episcopal)
 
Lane 3: Juniors Class of 2020
Boat: new shell
Cox: Marley Avritt (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor)
Stroke: Valentina Iseppi (Gardone Riviera, Italy)
7: Tabea Schendekehl (Dortmund, Germany)
6: Carmella Pappalardo (Salerno, Italy)
5: Molly Gallaher (Snoqualmie, Wash./Skyline)
2: Lark Skov (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Steamboat Springs)
3: Rachel McGlothlen (Spokane, Wash./West Valley)
2: Emma Vagen (Kent, Wash./Kentwood)
Bow: Skylar Jacobson (Lakewood, Wash./Steilacoom)
 
Lane 4: Sophomores Class of 2021
Boat: Erickson Family
Cox: Sachi Yamamoto (Seattle, Wash./Franklin)
Stroke: Klara Grube (Lübeck, Germany)
7: Teal Cohen (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School)
6: Taylor Buell (Olympia, Wash./Capital)
5: Sofia Asoumanaki (Athens, Greece)
4: Jenna Phillips (Dayton, Wash./Dayton)
3: Holly Drapp (Tampa, Fla./Strawberry Crest)
2: Ava Trogus (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest)
Bow: Ellie Bruce (Snoqualmie, Wash./Mount Si)
 
 
Race 4 – George M. Varnell Men's Eight
 
Lane 1: Seniors Class of 2019
Boat: Grand Challenger
Cox: Kimmons Wilson (Orlando, Fla./Winter Park)
Stroke: Michiel Mantel (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
7: Andrew Gaard (Madison, Wis./West)
6: Madison Molitor (Moses Lake, Wash./Moses Lake)
5: Tennyson Federspiel (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue)
4: Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./Brewster Academy
3: Elijah Maesner (Duvall, Wash./Eastlake)
2: Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./Bothell)
Bow: Philipp Nonnast (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
 
Lane 2: Freshmen Class of 2022
Boat: Chuck Holtz II
Cox: Thomas Wenk (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier)
Stroke: Nils Vorberg (Hamburg, Germany)
7: Matt Condrin (Sacramento, Calif./Jesuit)
6: Mattijs Holler (Vienna, Austria)
5: Logan McKerlich (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline)
4: Jason Pyke (Bellevue, Wash./International School)
3: Vuk Pivac (Belgrade, Serbia)
2: David Zachry (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor)
Bow: Colin Kwiecinski (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier)
 
Lane 3: Juniors Class of 2020
Boat: Carl Lovsted
Cox: Adam Gold (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Academy)
Stroke: Samuel Halbert (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville)
7: George Esau (Long Lake, Minn./Orono)
6: Simon van Dorp (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
5: Alexander Vollmer (Hamburg, Germany)
4: David Bridges (Portland, Ore./Jesuit)
3: Elliott De Bruin (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell)
2: Harvey Kay (Nottingham, U.K.)
Bow: Austin Regier (Burien, Wash./Mount Rainier)
 
Lane 4: Sophomores Class of 2021
Boat: John Jacobi
Cox: Kira Lewis (Belleuve, Wash./Interlake)
Stroke: Peter Lancashire (Port Macquarie, Australia)
7: Gert-Jan van Doorn (Leiden, Netherlands)
6: Chase Barrows (Snohomish, Wash./Archbishop Murphy)
5: Steve Rosts (Jordan, Ont., Canada/Eden)
4: Paolo Bifulco (Portland, Ore./Lincoln)
3: Jeffrey Thiers (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt
2: Nick Everett (Brockville, Ont., Canada)
Bow: Chase Deitner (Perth, Australia)