The Barometer Online

Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Andrew Burton Under first year coach Emily Ford, the women's rowing team has jumped into the top 25 polls this spring with a string of good races in the past month. They will get another big test Saturday as they will travel to Seattle to take on conference foe Washington, ranked No. 10.

The Oregon State women's crew continue its strong rowing season with a crucial weekend in Seattle, Washington. The No. 17 Beavers will take on No. 10 Washington for a big Pac-10 regatta showdown at Montlake Cut at Lake Washington.

A race that has conference title implications, first year head coach Emily Ford knows her team needs to just continue racing with confidence.

"We just have to row our race," Ford said. "We have to stay focused and race to the best we can and to the best of our ability."

The Beavers are coming off a big weekend at the Big Ten Double Duals in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For Ford, who previously coached at Michigan before arriving at OSU last summer, she was facing Big Ten foes again and had a ton of success. In the morning session, Oregon State's second varsity eight and varsity eight defeated No. 18 Wisconsin but fell in the novice eight and varsity four races to the Badgers. Later in the afternoon, OSU swept the Iowa Hawkeyes from all four boats, including an eight second win by the varsity eight. In the end, the Beavers took six of eight races on the weekend.

With the successful weekend in Minnesota, Ford thinks that her team has shown a lot of improvement this spring.

"I would say that almost everyone racing in the Varsity 8+ has shown very strong leadership skills and that really helps convey the willingness to raise the bar," Ford said. "I think that the strength of that boat is that everyone in the boat is at a similar level. With that, they are all contributing significantly."

The Huskies are coming off a very strong weekend at the Windermere Real Estate Rowing Classic in Belmont, California. On Saturday, the varsity eight, junior varsity eight, and the varsity coxed four defeated Louisville but all four boats were taken down by Virginia. The Cavaliers varsity eight is ranked 13th in the country. The following day, Washington's varsity eight beat 12th ranked Central Florida, as did the junior varsity eight and the varsity coxed four.

While Washington has had another successful year in women's crew, Ford knows that her team will have to continue rowing like they have been.

"We just have to row our race," Ford said. "We have to stay focused and race to the best we can and to the best of our ability."

Caroline Leibinger, who is the team's returning All-American, leads the Beavers. The senior has been a big impact on the team's success this year. The varsity eight, including Leibinger, is Britnie Jones, Kaylie Jones, Kaylie Towne, Ame Hicks, Ami Rothberg, Jen Hester, Jane Ivey, and Katie Sikstrom. The coxswain is junior Claire Hanway.

In last year's trip to Seattle, the Beavers lost to the Huskies by five seconds en route to a third place finish. Washington State won the varsity eight race by beating Washington by two seconds. In 2005, Oregon State also were defeated by the Huskies by 11 seconds.

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