April 2, 2004
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's and women's rowing squads will be in action this weekend at the San Diego Crew Classic, one of the largest regattas in North America.
On the mens side the Broncos will have three eights competing (Varsity Men's Eight, Junior Varsity Men's Eight, and Novice Men's Eight).
The Varsity Eight competes in the Cal Cup against other Varsity Eights from around the country. The heat takes place on Saturday at 7 a.m. with the top two finishers in the three heats advancing to the Grand Final on Sunday.
"Certainly our goal is to qualify for our first Grand Final since 1998," said first-year men's coach Tony Barcia. "Gonzaga and Minnesota finished 1st and 3rd in last year's cal cup grand finals and we lost to Gonzaga recently by just under four seconds, the closest margin in years. So, we have reason for optimism and now we just need to race."
The Varsity Eight line up is:
Cox -Nick Bickes (sr)
Stroke-Juan Perez (sr)
7-Bryce Davidson (sr)
6-Ned Matthews (jr)
5-John Zevenbergen (fr)
4-Justin Ungson (so)
3-Michael Rhoads (so)
2-Alex Nickel (so)
Bow-Ben Johnson (so)
"The Junior Varsity Eight faces tough competition from many powerhouse crews," said Barcia. "The boat is very young, with three novice on board. They need to finish top three to advance to the Grand Finals, which will be quite the challenge."
The Junior Varsity Eight line-up is:
Cox- Edsel Magalong (jr)
Stroke-Daniel Jordan (jr)
7-Stephen Kwei (fr)
6-Jarrod Wells (so)
5-Dan Parames (jr)
4-Michael Towbin (fr)
3-Geoff Wellington (so)
2-Alex Gorman (sr)
1-Chris Bates (fr)
"The "Frosh" as they are often called in the Collegiate Novice Eight, have a tough heat. Cal and UW are both strong nationally and are in their randomly-drawn heat," said Barcia. "We will do well to finish third then place in the top two or three places in the petite final on Sunday. This category of rowers are all in their first year of college rowing."
The Collegiate Novice Eight line-up is:
Cox: Natalie Vu (fr)
Stroke: Mike Neilson (fr)
7: Scott Donahue (so)
6: Kevin Leary (fr)
5: Clayton Hoefer (fr)
4: Trevor Gray (so)
3: Alex Wilbanks (fr)
2: Tony Guglielmi (so)
