No. 18 Men's Rowing Finish in 4th at Pac-10s - Oregon State University Athletics

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. -- The No. 18 Oregon State men’s rowing team finished in fourth place in the Pacific-10 Championships at Lake Natoma after finishing fourth in all four races the Beavers competed in (Varsity 8+, Junior Varsity 8+, Novice 8+ and Varsity 4+).

In team standings Oregon State narrowly missed medaling as they finished behind three of the nation’s best crews. Washington is ranked nation’s top crew followed by California at No. 3 and Stanford at No. 6.

The Beavers got out to a solid start throught he first 500 meters of the V8+ and were in third place behind national powerhouses Washington and Cal. But by the halfway point, Stanford had pulled ahead of OSU leaving the Beavers in fourth for the rest of the race. Washington went on for the victory maintaining their V8+ boats undefeated status. Cal came in at a close second followed by Stanford for the third and final medal.

“The V8+ performed to the best of their abilities,” said head coach Steve Todd. “The Pac-10 has the top crews in the country, and for us to go out and be competitive in the conference shows us that we can contend with the best. I felt the guys put together a good piece today. The guys felt good coming off the water that they had accomplished a good race.”

The V4+ started things off in the grand finals for the Beavers. Though they fought hard down the course, a rough start in the first 500 meters made a comeback difficult as California would go on for the win, followed by Washington, USC and OSU.

In the N8+ grand final, the lane assignments, one through six, kept true the entire race as the field finished in order: California for its second win of the day, Washington, Stanford, OSU, UCLA and USC.

“Dave [Friedericks] and I were pleased with the freshman’s performance and their progress through the season,” said Todd. “Eight of the nine rowers had never raced before this season and for them to come out and compete and improve is a very good step for us. We feel they have accomplished a lot this season.”

For OSU’s third race, the JV8+ started and finished in fourth place. Despite a strong effort to overtake Stanford, the Beavers were held off for the third and final medaling spot. Washington went on for a five second victory over Cal. USC and Washington State took the fifth and sixth place finishes.

“The JV8+ raced pretty well. They have had some ups and downs this season and today I felt they raced one of their better races,” said Todd.

Winning the Pacific-10 Team Championship was Washington with 69 points, followed closely by Cal with 66, Stanford in third with 48 and OSU in fourth with 45.

STANDINGS/ RESULTS

1. Washington	69
2. California	66
3. Stanford	48
4. Oregon State	45
5. USC	32
6. UCLA	24
7. Washington State	18

HEAT RACE Novice 8+

1	California	06:01.7
2	Oregon State	06:18.0
3	USC	06:31.7
4	UC Davis	06:38.9

GRAND FINALS

Varsity 4+
1	California	06:44.1
2	Washington	06:47.5
3	USC	06:52.3
4	Oregon State	06:58.4

Novice 8+
1	California	05:54.9
2	Washington	06:02.3
3	Stanford	06:15.8
4	Oregon State	06:19.4
5	UCLA	06:33.9
6	USC	06:43.3

Junior Varsity 8+
1	Washington	06:02.0
2	California	06:07.2
3	Stanford	06:13.4
4	Oregon State	06:29.0
5	USC	06:48.1
6	Washington State	07:15.2

Varsity 8+
1	Washington	05:46.4
2	California	05:47.9
3	Stanford	05:52.9
4	Oregon State	05:58.3
5	UCLA	06:10.4
6	USC	06:23.2
7	Washington State	06:34.3

LINEUPS

Varsity 8+

C: Lindsay Conners

S: George Dirth

7: JonYoung

6: Jeff Halleck

5 James Fulmer

4: Ryan Schanno

3: Mitch Ridge

2: Justin Wagner

B: Dan Armitage

Junior Varsity 8+

C: Beth Olsen

S: John Wainwright

7: Gustafson

6: David Weir

5: Evan Carey

4: Drew Eyster

3: Chad Ornberg

2: Todd West

B: Bobby Richards

Freshman 8+

C: Ian Hunnicutt

S: Bronson Shafer

7: Kade Laden

6: Michael Buckiewicz

5: Brian McShane

4: Ian George

3: Joseph Hill

2: Benjamin Steyer

B: Carl Borgwardt

C: Megan Teaford

S: John Wainwright

3: Will Gustafson

2: David Weir

B: Bobby Richards