Black Velvet is the Bronco rowing team's traditional annual event to celebrate the work of the team up until this point of the year as well as the acknowledge the approaching racing season and this year's event, hosted Sat., Feb. 23, was its usual success. One of the highlights was Father Rewak, S.J., performing a blessing of the boats.

"We started off the day with a great practice on Lexington Reservior and then had a alumni and family event at the boathouse," said head men's rowing coach Jay Farwell.  "We had a really terrific turnout of alumni and family for the event and there were approximately 150 people for the blessing of the boats."

Later in the evening, they hosted a formal dinner with the team, their families and alumni.  Coaches and alumni had the opportunity to address the crowd about the current team, the upcoming season, and the history of the program.  They were also joined by Father President Engh, Bronco Athletic Director Dan Coonan and Associate AD Staci Gustafson. 

Looking back, Black Velvet traditionally served to recognize the breaking of the ice.  For many crews around the country, winters are too harsh to train on the water so many are trapped indoors until weather permits.  "We obviously don't have that problem here in California, but we nonetheless think it is important to recognize the tremendous effort and commitment of the crew to this point in the year - with the understanding that there is still a significant amount of work left in the weeks to come leading up to WIRA Championships," added Farwell.

The men travel to Port of Sacramento on March 3 to race UC Davis, Stanford and Sonoma State at the Davis Invitational.  They are scheduled to race Varsity 8, Junior Varsity 8, Novice 8 and Novice 4. Check back next week for the results!