March 30, 2009
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. - The Santa Clara crew programs compiled solid performances at the Pac-10 Challenge presented by Windermere Real Estate last weekend at Redwood Shores.
"We raced crews that have always been substantially faster than us this weekend," said senior captain Brendon Bula. "We were able to remain competitive, which is extremely hard in the sport of rowing. It shows a promising future for our upcoming races in San Diego and Sacramento at the end of the year. We still have a lot to work on, but we were happy with the results this weekend."
In the ninth race of the day on Saturday, Santa Clara battled Gonzaga in the Varsity 8. The Broncos have never beaten the Bulldogs, but came close this year as they finished just two seconds behind. The race was close through the 1000m mark, but then Gonzaga started to pull away. Santa Clara caught back up on their sprint to be within a few seats of even. Last year, SCU came within eight seconds of the Zags at the WIRA's in the Grand Final.
The JV 8 raced against Orange Coast's varsity team in the early afternoon. Although it was a great fight, in the end OCC pulled ahead to win by 30 seconds. In the final race for the men on Saturday, the JV boats produced what was by far their best race of the year. However, Gonzaga took the race by 14 seconds.
On Sunday, the Varsity 8 competed against Cal and finished only eight seconds behind the Golden Bears.
On the women's side, SCU came in 33 seconds behind Wisconsin in the Lightweight 2Varsity 8. In Varsity 8 action on Saturday, the Broncos faced the Toreros of San Diego and finished 37 seconds behind. The Varsity 8 raced again on Sunday, this time against Saint Mary's. SCU came in 32 seconds behind SMC.
The Broncos return to action on April 4-5 at the San Diego Crew Classic.
Men's Results
Saturday
Varsity 8
Gonzaga 6:02.5
Santa Clara 6:04.5
2Varsity 8
Orange Coast 6:07.1
Santa Clara 6:37.8
2Varsity 8/Lightweight 8
Gonzaga 6:41.4
Santa Clara 6:56.1
Sunday
Varsity 8
California 2V8 6:01.8
Santa Clara V8 6:10.2
Women's Results
Saturday
Lightweight 2Varsity 8
Wisconsin 7:02.2
Santa Clara 7:35.2
Varsity 8
San Diego 7:35.9
Santa Clara 8:02.4
Sunday
Varsity 8
Saint Mary's 7:02.6
Santa Clara 7:34.4
