The Portland Pilots women’s rowing team began their spring season at the Sacramento State Invitational in Gold River, California, with the third varsity eight earning the program’s first win of the year. The event saw strong efforts from all Pilot crews.
“This was a solid start to spring racing for us,” said Portland head coach Gulliver Scott. “Overall, we have a young team and we learned a lot today. It was great to see our crews successfully execute the elements of racing that we’ve been working on.”
The third varsity eight secured victory in their 2000-meter race with a time of 7:32.3. Emma Hanson served as coxswain and Megan Eckels as stroke for this boat. The first varsity eight finished third in their race with a time of 7:08.5, while the second varsity eight also placed third at 7:31.3. Leahbelle Paladino and Veronica Conklin led the first varsity eight as coxswain and stroke, respectively; Bella Valenzuela and Averie Zealley filled those roles for the second varsity eight.
The varsity four ended their race in fourth place with a time of 8:12.1, featuring Natalie Petty as coxswain and Phoebe Price as stroke.
“The Sac State Invite was a great opportunity to see how we stack up against conference opponents early in the season,” said Portland captain Rachel Hester. “All of our boats had strong performances and competitive races. I am excited to see what is to come for our team this year.”
The Pilots will next compete at the Puget Sound Invite on March 14 at American Lake.
