FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Junior Lily Johnson and seniors Jaelen Hodges and Sophia Pitre earned All-Northwest Conference honors, while head coach Sam Taylor was voted NWC Coach of the Year by his colleagues, the conference announced on Wednesday. The Lewis & Clark College Pioneers earned their first-ever conference championship on Sunday after sweeping the women's events. The win marked the first conference title for the school since 2016. Johnson, Hodges, and Pitre are all members of the varsity eight boat that sprinted through Puget Sound in a neck-and-neck final 150 meters to win the Judy McMullen Trophy. This is the first conference honor for Johnson and Pitre, and the second for Hodges, who was named to the All-Conference team at the end of the 2022 season.
Taylor has been coaching at Lewis & Clark for 17 years. With this win, the Pioneers are likely headed to the NCAA Championship, which would be Lewis & Clark rowing's first nationals bid since 2006. Taylor led the Pioneers to their first-ever NCAA bid that year.
Johnson has been a top performer on the team since they joined as a novice rower in the fall of 2020, when the team was confined to ergs for the duration of the season. Her 7:42.5 2,000 meter personal best from that year earned them a spot on the Pioneers records board in the novice standings. In her sophomore year, Johnson raced her way into the eight that marked Lewis & Clark's first ever trip to Boston for the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta, maintaining that seat through the spring for Lewis & Clark's third place finish in conference standings. As a junior they've been a staple of the varsity eight and were voted in by their teammates as one of two captains for the squad, which is a testament to the leadership qualities they embody both on and off the water.
Hodges is a four-year member of the team, coming into the program with high school experience. She has remained a staple of the varsity 8+ throughout her career and is serving in her second year as a captain. She established herself as a leader early through her commitment to self-improvement, reliability, passion for the sport, and as an upperclassman, her mentorship. As a junior, Hodges earned a spot in the eight that went to Boston for the Head of the Charles regatta, one of the most difficult courses for coxswains in the country. She ends her tenure with the Pioneers with a 4.0 GPA, having balanced school, rowing, and work as a medical scribe in an emergency room.
Pitre is also a four-year member of the team, joining in her freshman year as a true novice. Like Johnson, she raced her way into the eight that traveled to Boston for the Head of the Charles Regatta and battled back against a significant injury to maintain her seat in the boat through the spring. Pitre joined the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in her freshman year as a team rep, serving as the SAAC president as a senior. Her leadership in SAAC has led to the implementation of several new events for the athlete population at the school in the pursuit of fostering community. As a senior, she's been a staple in the varsity 8+ and achieved a new personal best of 7:46.4 on her 2,000 meter erg test, the second fastest time on the team.
"We have so many great examples of teamwork and every person on this squad contributed to our success this year," said Taylor, "Jaelen, Lily, and Sophia are great representatives of that group and have consistently made big contributions both on the water and off."
