April 10, 2008

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Santa Clara women's crew left bright and early Thursday morning, April 3, to drive down to San Diego for the 35th Anniversary of the San Diego Crew Classic. The Crew Classic hosted top Universities from across the country over the weekend. Santa Clara brought two eights with the Varsity 8 boat racing in a field of 21 for the Women's Cal Cup. The JV8 raced in the Women's Open division.

On Saturday, April 5, the Varsity 8 had a solid showing coming in fourth out of seven crews and finished in a time of 6:53.37 which was one second off of Loyola Marymount who took third with a time of 6:52.37. The top two boats in each heat advanced to the Grand Finals whereas the 3rd and 4th place boats advanced to the Petite Finals. Taking the top two slots were Sacramento State and University of Buffalo.

The Petitie Final for the Women's Cal Cup featured three WCC teams (Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount and St. Mary's) and Temple, Lehigh and U.C. Santa Barbara. The Broncos were down off the start and had to battle their way back into the race. Coming into the last 500 meters the Broncos were able to pull up close to both St. Mary's and LMU, however came up short in the last 100 meters as they finished just under two seconds from winner St. Mary's and less than one second behind Loyola Marymount.

The JV8 had a great race in their heat as they walked away from the field at the 1000m line and finished in first. For their efforts they earned a spot in the Grand Final for the Women's Open 8. The Open 8 event matched the JV 8 up against crews from USC, UCLA, and Drexel. The Broncos were unable to keep pace and finished 4th in the Grand Final.

Womens Collegiate Varsity Cal Cup Petite
1. St. Mary's 6:48.80
2. Loyola 6:49.74
3. Santa Clara 6:50.58
4. Temple 6:55.17
5. UCSB 6:56.08
6. Lehigh 7:01.21

Womens Open G Final
1. UCLA 7:07.7
2. USC 7:12.20
3. Drexel 7:18.20
4. Santa Clara 7:30.20
5. UCI Alum 7:39.05
6. UCI 7:45.58