Men's Rowing Has Strong Showing at Western Sprints Challenge

Men's Rowing Has Strong Showing at Western Sprints Challenge

Sunday Results
Monday Results

SAN DIEGO, Calif.
– Santa Clara men's rowing had a solid showing at the Western Sprints Challenge, picking up a total of seven wins in nine races against San Diego, UC San Diego, and Gonzaga Sunday and Monday.

"This was an important weekend for us and gave us an early look at teams we will see at the Western Sprints in mid-May," Santa Clara head coach Jay Farwell said. "I thought our overall team performance was solid. Our team has traveled a lot over the last two weekends with a trip to Las Vegas and San Diego. We have tested these guys early with a tough schedule and under difficult circumstances."

In three races against San Diego on Sunday, the Broncos won with their V8, 2V8, and 3V8 boats.

"The team got up very early on Sunday morning, sat on a bus for eight hours, and then competed against a good USD team with all three boats coming away with a win," Farwell said. "I was particularly impressed with how the team handled the USD race on Sunday with some windy conditions and the typical afternoon chop that you can get from the wind and recreational boat users on the bay. This was not an ideal set up for us but the team responded well with a solid performance across all three boats."

On Monday morning, the Broncos took on UC San Diego and won with the V8 and 3V8 boats.

"For our Monday morning races, we faced UC San Diego who was the other IRA qualifier for 2017," Farwell said. "The Varsity 8 had another good performance and came away with a convincing win. The Second Varsity 8 had a great race against UCSD. I thought it was one of the better races all weekend with both boats pushing hard down the course. UCSD ultimately got the win but their performance should provide them with some additional confidence moving forward. The Third Varsity 8 had a tough race against a good UCSD crew."

The event concluded with Santa Clara beating Gonzaga in the V8 and 2V8.

"The last races late Monday morning were against Gonzaga," Farwell said. "Conditions were not ideal with wind and chop making the course a bit unpredictable. The Varsity and Second Varsity 8s came away with a win while the Third Varsity 8 lost by about 6 seats. The Third Varsity 8 was a battle down the course. We have a few freshmen walk-ons in our boat and it was a good effort but we came up short in the last 500 meters of the race."

The Broncos now have two and a half weeks before racing at the Husky Open at Montlake Cut in Seattle against Washington March 31.

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