CHULA VISTA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's rowing had a first, second, and third place finish at Western Sprints Saturday.

"I thought the quality of racing at Western Sprints was really good amongst the four conference teams especially when you consider all of the challenges we faced with the pandemic. It is great to see this caliber of racing and it bodes well for our conference moving into the future," Santa Clara head coach Jay Farwell said.

The Broncos Varsity 8 boat finished second with a time of 5:57.73, just behind UCSD's 5:55.85.

"Varsity 8 had a very good first 1500 meters of the race and executed our race plan very well," Farwell said. "In the last few hundred meters of the race we hit the wall a bit and UCSD was able to overtake us to win by a little more than a half a boat length. It was a tough loss for us and the guys learned a lot from the result. The guys know they let a Western Sprint title slip through their fingers and the loss is certainly going to motivate them in our training up to IRAs."

The 2nd Varsity 8 boat was third with a time of 6:12.78. Gonzaga finished second at 6:09.79 with UCSD taking first at 6:97.46.

"The 2nd Varsity 8 under-performed and struggled to establish themselves down the racecourse," Farwell said. "I think the effort was there, but the guys just seemed to be off with their timing. Taking third place was disappointing considering two weeks ago they beat Gonzaga by open water. Gonzaga and UCSD put together a complete race and we just couldn't settle into a good rhythm."

Santa Clara's Varsity 4 won its race with a time of 7:00.37.

"Varsity 4 had a fantastic effort and won their race convincingly over UCSD and USD," Farwell said. "This was a great result for this group and they went out there and did a great job executing the race plan. This will be a great motivator for these guys and there may be a few of these guys that compete for a spot in the 2nd Varsity 8 for the IRA trip."

UP NEXT
The Broncos conclude the season at the IRA National Championships May 28 and 29.

This year, due to COVID, the IRA stewards have invited all eligible IRA institutions to attend the regatta. A total of 32programs have committed to making the trip which is typically capped at 24 programs.

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