Cal Men Win Pac-12 Rowing Championship
An impressive performance by the Cal men in the varsity eight 1 final on Sunday led the Bears to a victory in that showcase event and helped them claim their first Pac-12 team title since 2016.
Cal, which is ranked No. 1 in the country, topped second-place Washington by more than five seconds in the men's varsity eight 1 final on Dexter Lake near Eugene, Oregon.
The Huskies men had won the past four conference titles, but Cal not only won the main event by a large margin, but won the team competition with 72 points, compared with 65 points for Washington.
The Cal women finished third in their varsity eight 1 race and placed third in the team standings. Stanford won both the varsity eight 1 race and the team competition on the women's side, ending the Washington women's streak of four straight conference titles.
But the story for Cal was its impressive showing in the final men's race. The Bears' varsity eight boat included stroke Iwan Hadfield, Elliot Kemp, Tim Roth, Ollie Maclean, Gennaro di Mauro, Angus Dawson, Frederik Breuer, bow Campbell Crouch and cox Luca Vieira, and it took a sizable lead immediately from of the starting line and dominated the field.
Cal finished in a time of 5:36.904 and had open water between it and second-place Washington, which finished 5.03 seconds behind the Bears.
The Cal men also won the second varsity eight, but that was a tight race that the Bears won with a strong finish. The Bears trailed Washington nearly the entire race but passed the Huskies in the final 10 meters to win by little more than a tenth of second, the margin officially being 0.126 of a second.
The Cal men will be among the favorites in the IRA national event to be held May 28-29 in West Windsor, New Jersey.
The Golden Bears women came into the Pac-12 championship ranked No. 10 in the country and lived up to that billing finishing behind Stanford, which is No. 2 in the country, and Washington, which is No. 8.
Stanford won the women's varsity eight 1 in impressive fashion, finishing 5.65 second ahead of second-place Washington and 7.131 seconds ahead of Cal.
RESULTS
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
Men
1. Cal -- 72
2. Washington -- 65
3. Oregon State -- 47
4. Stanford -- 42
5. Washington State -- 40
6. Oregon -- 17
7. Colorado -- 12
.
Women
1. Stanford -- 43.5
2. Washington -- 41
3. Cal -- 31.5
4. Oregon State -- 23.5
5. USC -- 22
6. Washington State -- 10.5
7. UCLA -- 10
.
RACE RESULTS
Men' novice eight final:
1. Cal, 5:44.980
2. Washington, 5:47.410
3. Washington State, 6:43.430
.
Women's novice eight final
1. Stanford, 6:34.310
2. Washington, 6:34.350
3. Cal, 6:45.140
.
Men's third varsity eight final
1. Washington, 5:43.520
2. Cal, 5:44.420
3. Oregon State, 6:07.230
.
Women's third varsity eight final
1. Stanford, 6:29.33
2. Washington, 6:32.52
3. Cal, 6:40.750
.
Men's varsity four final
1. Cal, 6:28.250
2. Washington, 6:42.450
3. Oregon State, 6:55.927
.
Women's varsity four final
1. Stanford, 7:01.868
2. Washington, 7:06.454
3. USC, 7:10.685
4. Cal, 7:17.388
.
Men's second varsity eight final
1. Cal, 5:38.536
2. Washington, 5:38.662
3. Stanford, 6:00.126
.
Women's second varsity eight final
1. Washington, 6:22.032
2. Stanford, 6:23.702
3. Cal, 6:25.249
.
Men's varsity eight final 1
1. Cal, 5:36.904
2. Washington, 6:42.210
3. Stanford, 6:49.679
.
Women's varsity eight final 1
1. Stanford, 6:13.411
2. Washington, 6:18.061
3. Cal, 6:20.542
.
.
Cover photo by Zach Franzen
.
Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport or going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsrepor