Women's Crew Wraps Up Season
June 1, 2000
THE SEASON: The Oregon State women's crew wrapped up another successful season when the varsity eight competed at the NCAA Championships in Camden, N.J. May 26-27. OSU's finished third in the Level III final to place 15th overall.
After opening the season at Washington State, the varsity eight rowed to a win in the San Diego Crew Classic Petite Final (places 7-12) to claim 7th place overall, while the second varsity eight raced in the Grand Final (places 1-6) and took fourth overall. The novice eight took first in the Petite Final for seventh place as well.
The varsity eight came within seven seconds of then-No. 3 California the next week, and then swept Stanford the following weekend.
OSU blew by the competition at the Stanford Invitational Apr. 29-30, winning eight of nine races and setting a varsity eight season-low of 6:33.6 along the way, in their final competition before the Pacific-10 Championships. OSU upset USC in a come-from-behind effort at the Pac-10s, finishing third behind then-No. 1 Washington and No. 5 California.
HEAD COACH CHARLIE OWEN ON THE SEASON: "I'd say overall, I was really pleased with how our season went. Our varsity team really made some improvements between the fall and the spring, and continued to improve through the spring. It was a good accomplishment for our team to be invited to the NCAA Championships. Since we went to our first one four years ago, the field has gotten a lot more competitive. It's an accomplishment to get invited to that, but I think though, that I'm not going to be satisfied with finishing 15th. I think some of it is that sometimes you get in a race that's a little faster than the other one. You can't affect that, but we need to perform better than we did when we go to an NCAA Championship.
"Looking to next year, I'm excited. We've got a really strong novice class coming up, and a lot of people are excited about rowing. We're losing a lot of experienced people from the first boat, but I think we'll make up for that. I think a lot of recognition needs to go out to our graduating seniors."
NCAA LEVEL III FINAL RESULTS (places 13-19): 1. Yale 6:36.39, 2. USC 6:39.79, 3. Oregon State 6:40.39, 4. UC-Davis 6:50.5, 5. Williams 6:53.5, 6. William Smith 6:53.7, 7. Wesleyan 7:08.1.
NCAA VARSITY EIGHT TIMES: (Grand Final, places 1-6) 1. Brown * 6:37.2, 2. Washington 6:41.1, 3. Virginia 6:42.79, 4. California 6:46.5, 5. Michigan 6:49.29, 6. Princeton 6:50.2 (Petite Final, places 7-12) 1. Boston University 6:49.2, 2. Michigan State 6:52.2, 3. Syracuse 6:54.9, 4. Northeastern 6:57.7, 5. Ohio State 6:58.1, 6. Harvard-Radcliffe 6:58.6.
* - Won second consecutive NCAA Championship.
OSU's NCAA LINEUP: (B- Bow, S- Stroke, C- Coxswain) B- Amanda Westfall, 2- Annie Godwin, 3- Jenny Johnson, 4- Jaclyn Melcher, 5- Sarah Wachs, 6- Abby Roos, 7- Cassie Bouska, S- Jamie Stephenson, C- Jennelle Johnson.
SENIOR CLASS: Amanda Westfall (Salem, Ore).
WESTFALL, GODWIN HONORED: Varsity eight rowers Amanda Westfall and Annie Godwin were named to the All-Pacific-10 Conference Team following OSU's third-place performance at the Pac-10 Championships May 14.
Westfall, the team captain, is a senior in her third year in the varsity eight boat. A graduate of South Salem High School, Westfall earned national recognition last year when she was selected as a National Scholar-Athlete by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association. Westfall rows the bow seat.
Godwin, a senior, is a three-year veteran of the varsity eight, and rows the second seat this year. A graduate of Pine Eagle High School in Halfway, Ore., Godwin earned second-team honor roll mention from U.S. Rowing last year, as well as National Scholar-Athlete honors.
BEST TIMES OF THE SPRING: VARSITY EIGHT - 6:33.6 (vs. Texas at Stanford Invitational, Redwood Shores course, 4/30), SECOND VARSITY EIGHT - 6:46.32 (at Washington State, Snake River course, 3/25), VARSITY FOUR `A' - 7:36.5 (vs. Kansas at Stanford Invitational, Redwood Shores course, 4/29) VARSITY FOUR `B' - (vs. Stanford, Lake Vancouver course, 4/15), NOVICE EIGHT - 6:48.2 (vs. Stanford, Lake Vancouver course, 4/15), SECOND NOVICE EIGHT - 7:19.3 (vs. Washington, Lake Vancouver course, 4/22), FRESHMAN FOUR `A' - 7:59.49 (at California, Redwood Shores course, 4/8), FRESHMAN FOUR `B' - 8:02.74 (at California, Redwood Shores course, 4/8), NOVICE FOUR - 6:41.6 (vs. Cal at Stanford Invitational, Redwood Shores course, 4/30) Note: Lowest times are not necessarily representative of best performances, as course conditions are a considerable factor in how the times turn out.
BOUSKA HONORED: Cassie Bouska, a senior, was selected for the 2000 GTE Academic All-America District VIII second team. Bouska, from Myrtle Point, Ore., sports a 3.88 GPA in Biology, and is a two-year member of OSU's 11th-ranked varsity eight boat.
Bouska was honored as a National Scholar Athlete by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association and was an All-Academic selection in 1999. Bouska is attending OSU on Presidential and Georgia-Pacific Scholarships. She also volunteers with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.
COACHING STAFF: Charlie Owen, in his ninth year at Oregon State University, first arrived at OSU in the fall of 1986 as a student-athlete. He has been involved with the program ever since.
Owen rowed in the varsity lightweight men's eight and heavyweight men's eight, before an injury cut his career short. He did however enjoy a successful sculling career with an eventual position on the 1991 Pan American Team.
Owen's coaching career began in the fall of 1991 as the novice women's mentor. He coached the novice team for two years, with his teams placing second on the West Coast each season and all crews earning medals. At the same time he coached a team at the Olympic Sports Festival.
Owen assumed the reigns of head women's coach in 1993, and the team has improved every year. His 1997 varsity team has been the highlight of his coaching tenure, placing second at the Pac-10 Championships and earning an entry into the inaugural NCAA Championships. The women's crew placed seventh overall at the NCAAs. The 1998 team also had a banner year, with a third-place showing at the conference meet.
Owen started rowing at Salisbury School in 1984 and while there competed at the West German Junior National Championships. Owen also competed in England at the Henley Royal Regatta.
Owen is a 1992 graduate of Oregon State with a bachelor's degree in housing studies.
Jane LaRiviere is in her sixth season as the Women's Freshman and Novice Coach at Oregon State University.
LaRiviere has guided the program to some of its most successful seasons in school history, and has made it one of the most competitive on the West Coast. One of the highlights of LaRiviere's coaching career was guiding the 1999 Novice team to a second-place finish in the Women's Varsity four at the Pacific-10 Championships.
As a student at the University of Calgary, LaRiviere rowed for the Calgary Rowing Club. In 1985 her team won the Intermediate Four With at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. LaRiviere began coaching rowing in 1989 while attending the University of Oregon. She went on to coach in Canada at the University of Western Ontario and the London Rowing Club. While in London, Ontario, she assisted with the Women's National Team development camps. During the summer of 1999 LaRiviere volunteered at the Canadian National Team's Pre-World Championship camp.
LaRiviere is a U.S. Rowing Level II certified coach and a Level III certified rowing coach in Canada.
LaRiviere received her bachelor's degree in 1986, her master's degree in 1990, and is presently completing her Ph.D in biomechanics at Oregon State University.
