March 26, 2003
Redwood Shores, Calif. - The Stanford Lightweight Women's Crew Opened their 2003 season with two home races last weekend. The first race saw the Cardinal novice eight race the Santa Clara Openweight Junior varsity. Stroked by freshman walk-on Chelsea Burkett, the novice eight finished in a time of 8:43, 10 seconds behind the Broncos. In the varsity event, the Cardinal, bolstered by four returning rowers from last years' varsity, amassed a 3/4 length lead at the 1000 Meter mark, where Santa Clara then caught a boat stopping crab. Stanford finished in a time of 7:12, matching their fastest time of last year.
The following day, the Stanford lightweight varsity raced a University of Victoria boat the was comprised of four lightweights, and four openweights. In stiff headwind conditions, U Vic jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back. At the 750 Meter to go mark, the Cardinal caught a boat stopping crab, and eventually limped across the line in a time of 8:00, 25 seconds behind U Vic.
Next up for the Lightweights is the Windermere Collegiate Crew Classic at Redwood Shores. At the Windermere regatta, the Lightweights will face off against U.C. Davis and two of the top four teams in the country, Harvard and defending national champions, Princeton. Stanford heads into this race ranked third in the country, according to the national coaches poll conducted by USRowing.
USRowing Collegiate Women's Lightweight Eight Poll
1. Princeton University , 119 2. University of Wisconsin, 110 3. Stanford University, 102 4. Radcliffe , 93 5. Georgetown University, 89 6. Villanova University, 79 7. University of Delaware, 73 8. Mercyhurst College, 60 9. Long Beach State University, 56 10. San Diego State University, 55 11. University of California at Berkeley, 54 12. University of Central Florida, 45 13. University of California at San Diego, 43 14. Humboldt State University, 38 15. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 28