Rancho Cordova, CA - The Saint Mary's women's novice-4 boat took third place in the Grand Finals, while the varsity-8 boat finished second in the Petite Finals, capping off a successful weekend at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships, at Lake Natoma.

The varsity-8 boat kicked off Sunday's races by placing second in the Petite Finals, the finished with a time of 7:27.6, just behind Loyola Marymount and ahead of Santa Clara. The lineup for the boat was coxswain Molly Chow, 8 Savina Brown, 7 Jordan Bonadio, 6 Miranda Ripoli, 5 Dana Cook, 4 Michelle Burns, 3 Laura Kocourek, 2 Taylor Balian, 1 Jennifer Trowers.

The novice-4 continued their impressive run at the WIRA's by placing third in the Grand Finals. The Gaels advanced to the Grand Finals by placing second in their heat on Saturday's race. SMC finished with a time of 8:01.4, just behind San Diego, who finished with a time of 7:54.3 and LMU with a time of 7:58.2. The Gaels finished ahead of UC Irvine who clocked in at 8:15.0 and Humboldt State 8:16.7 and Long Beach State 8:30.7 The lineup for the novice-4 boat was, coxswain Lisa Wickhem, 4 Nicolette Pierantoni, 3 Jillian Parlee, 2 Elaina Jones, 1 Deanna Estes.

The Gaels return to the water on Saturday, May 15, when the Gaels head back to Rancho Cordova to participate in the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships/Pac-10 Championships.