No. 1 Cal Men Win Pac-12 Rowing Championship
The No. 1-ranked Cal men recorded a dominating victory in the varsity eight, which helped the Golden Bears win their second straight Pac-12 rowing team championship Sunday morning at Dexter Lake in Lowell, Oregon.
The Cal women finished third in both the varsity eight and the team championship, as Stanford won the women’s version competed at the same site.
The Golden Bears men will defend their IRA national championship next month, and eight of the nine rowers from last year’s varsity eight rowed for Cal’s varsity eight in Sunday’s race. And the experience showed, as the Golden Bears took the lead at the outset and cruised to an open-water victory of nearly four seconds over second-place Washington. Cal had a time of 5:34.673, while the Huskies were timed in 5:38.511. Stanford finished third about a half-second behind Washington.
Cal's men's varsity eight consisted of Luca Vieira (cox), Iwan Hadfield, Angus Dawson, Tim Roth, Oliver Maclean, Gennaro Di Mauro, Augustine Rodriguez, Frederik Breuer and Campbell Crouch.
Rowers, coaches and officials generally consider the winner of the varsity eight race as the overall team winner, although the team standings have taken on increased importance in recent years.
Cal also finished first in the second varsity eight, the men’s novice eight and was second in the third varsity eight. The Bears also were first in the (non-scoring) men’s varsity four. It helped the Bears take the team title, ahead of second-place Washington.
Men's Team Standings
Next for the Cal men is the IRA national championships June 1-3 at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.
The seventh-ranked Cal women finished a distant third in the varsity eight on Sunday, and the Bears were also third in the team standings, behind first-place Stanford and second-place Washington.
In the varsity eight, the Bears finished in a time of 6:20.778, which was more than 12 seconds behind first-place Stanford and nearly seven seconds in back of second-place Washington.
Nonetheless, Cal is virtually certain to get a berth in the women’s NCAA championships, which will be held May 26-28 in Camden, N.J.
Women's Team Standings:
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Cover photo by Zach Franzen
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