Anchorage Daily News

Two Alaskans helped row their crew teams to national titles on Sunday at the 2007 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Elizabeth Fison, a former Dimond High student, helped Brown University capture the Division I championship, and Audrey Coon, a former Kenai High cross-country runner, powered Division II champion Western Washington.

Fison missed her graduation ceremony on Sunday -- but she'll gladly trade that for the NCAA title she earned instead. The seniors who missed graduation had a special ceremony a week ago before leaving for Tennessee.

Rowing in the fourth seat for Brown's second eights, Fison helped the Brown Bears capture their second team championship in four years.

Brown had three boats in the grand finals. Although none of them won, the Bears amassed 58 points, enough for the team victory.

"We worked extremely hard all year," Fison, a co-captain, told the Brown University Athletics Web site. "It's always our main goal, the team title, and we worked toward that from day one."

Fison attended Dimond High as a freshman before transferring to St. Paul School in New Hampshire. She was a freshman spare on Brown's 2004 championship team.

Fison's second eight-person boat finished behind Minnesota and California. Brown's varsity fours team was second to Virginia.

"It's great," said Brown coach John Murphy. "We have been very fortunate to have good depth. On a team like this, it takes every single person, and we are very proud of them."

Last year, Fison's boat won gold, but the team did not prevail.

Brown was followed by Virginia (54 points), Ohio State 52, Yale 51, Southern California 48 and Minnesota 47.

In the Division II championships, Kenai's Coon, a sophomore, helped the dominant Western Washington University rowing team cap off an extraordinary season with its third-straight NCAA title.

The nationally No.1-ranked Vikings led from start to finish in winning both the varsity four and eight grand finals, each for the third straight year. It's the first time a school has won three consecutive titles since the NCAA began a rowing championship in 1997.

Coon, who ran cross-country while attending Kenai High, rowed in the No. 2 spot in the Western Washington eight boat that was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. Rowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA II Poll the entire season.

It won by nearly two boat lengths, navigating the 2,000-meter course in 7:03.80. California-San Diego was second in 7:09.51 and Dowling (N.Y.) was third in 7:12.93.

Western has competed in the Division II rowing championships seven straight years.