Beuke, Huskies take Pac-12 rowing title; Sequim High grad picked for national team

Elise Beuke and the No. 1-ranked UW crew team are going places — quickly.

After setting Montlake Cut course records and winning all 10 races at the 2017 Windermere Cup, the Huskies earned a rare men’s-women’s crew sweep at the Pac-12 Championships May 14 at Lake Nomata, Calif.

It was the first time in 20 years that both UW men’s and women’s teams won the Pac-12 Championships the same year.

In the women’s main event, the Huskies led the entire race from start to finish. With Beuke in the seven seat, Washington got off to a fast start and gained an early four seat lead by the 500-meter mark. By 1,000 meters the Huskies built a seven-seat lead and ultimately finished ahead of California for the title.

Beuke, a 2015 Sequim High grad and UW sophomore, joins the Washington women who will head to Mercer Lake, N.J., to compete in the NCAA Championships May 26-28.

The Sequim native has even bigger plans after being one of five Huskies selected to participate in the Women’s Under-23 National Team Selection Camp, USRowing announced May 12.

Beuke joins three other members of the women’s rowing team — including junior Jessica Thoennes, junior Karle Pittsinger, and junior Brooke Pierson — along with sophomore Kimmons Wilson, a coxswain on the men’s rowing team, to compete to be selected onto the Women’s U23 National Team this June.

This year the Under-23 World Championships will be held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

After learning to scull as a senior in high school, Beuke earned a spot on the U.S Junior National team and placed seventh at the Junior World’s in Rio de Janeiro.

See more about the UW team at www.gohuskies.com/index.aspx?path=wrow.