Women's Rowing Finish Strong in San Diego - Oregon State University Athletics

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Oregon State women’s rowing team wrapped up the San Diego Crew Classic with each boat making a good showing in the Grand Finals. Both the Novice 8+ and the Second Varsity 8+ boats finished in second place in their races and the Varsity 8+ finished in fifth place at Classic Crown Point Shores Park on Mission Bay.

Through the first 500 meters of the N8+ race, the Beavers got out to a less than stellar start falling to the back of the pack, but by the halfway point, OSU had made their move into second place behind UCLA and were a second ahead of Stanford. From the 1000m split to the 1500 split, OSU still trailed UCLA, but had built a comfortable four second lead in second place over Stanford. That would be where they both finished. OSU was six seconds behind the winner UCLA and 5 seconds ahead of third place Stanford. The top four finishers in the race for the Laurel V. Korholz Perpetual Trophy, all reside in the Pac-10 conference.

“They did a really nice job today,” said head coach Emily Ford. “They had a rough start, but came back nicely. They really showed toughness. I was very pleased with that.”

In a very tight race, the OSU 2V8+ came out in second place for the Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy behind USC by three seconds. To start the race nearly the whole field got a jump on OSU with USC taking nearly a five second lead and UCLA a three second lead over the Beavers. For nearly the entirety of 1500m of the race the Beavers had been in fifth place. It wasn’t until the last 500m that OSU made their moves toward the front and snuck past UCLA by less than two tenths of a second for the number two spot. California, Washington State and Stanford went four, five and six respectively in the all Pac-10 field.

“It was the same thing as with the novice in second varsity race,” said Ford. “They had a rough start and showed some nice composure, came back and really had a strong second half of the race. I was excited to see that. I’m proud of them.”

No. 8 USC upset the top ranked California in the V8+ by more than seven seconds in the all Pac-10 Grand Final. Following the top two were No. 11 edging No. 14 UCLA by less than a second for third place. Coming in at fifth place was Oregon State that finished ahead of Washington State by less than half a second to round out the top six in the Jessop-Whittier Cup.

“This race really showed there is a lot of speed in the Pac-10. They did a great job of rowing their race and really fought it out with Washington State. It was good to see them fight it out for that spot,” said Ford.

“My feelings on the races in general are that it’s a nice start, but we have a lot of work to do.”

Oregon State women’s rowing will next be in action Apr. 14 in Minneapolis, Minn. for the Big Ten Duals.

GRAND FINALS

Varsity 8+
1. USC	6:52.23
2. California	6:59.99
3. Stanford	7:01.08
4. UCLA	7:01.75
5. Oregon State	7:06.30
6. Washington State	7:06.74

Second Varsity 8+
1. USC	7:06.60
2. Oregon State	7:09.82
3. UCLA	7:10.00
4. California	7:14.06
5. Washington State	7:18.52
6. Stanford	7:22.03

Novice 8+
1. UCLA	7:06.87
2. Oregon State	7:12.69
3. Stanford	7:17.51
4. Cal	7:18.96
5. Kansas State	7:21.24
6. Washington State	7:26.54