April 30, 2011
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. - No. 2 Stanford's II Eight women's boat picked up the Cardinal's only victory in four races against No. 3 California's crews Saturday at The Big Row at Redwood Shores.
The schools raced in the I Eight, II Eight, Four and Frosh Eight classes.
"The racing was very gritty and exactly what you would expect from such an awesome rivalry," said Stanford women's rowing head coach Yasmin Farooq. "We saw some good progress in the varsity four, the 2V eight was a slugfest, and the varsity eight led off the line only to have Cal throw down an excellent middle 1,000. The Pac-10 is deep and we should all expect that "final only" race at the Pac-10 Championships to be a barnburner in all three events."
"Today's regatta also honored Cal's varsity coxswain Jill Costello, who succumbed to lung cancer shortly after the NCAA's last year," Farooq continued. "We were honored to include a "sea foam green" ribbon on our Big Row uniform, and we will proudly wear it on behalf of Jill every year at The Big Row. Jill and her parents, Jim and Mary, are in our thoughts and hearts and The Big Row is the perfect event for all of us to remember her and what she gave to our teams and to the sport of rowing."
The Cardinal II Eight out-dueled its opposite number from California, crossing the line with a time of 6:35.0, just over two seconds ahead of the Golden Bears.
Stanford's other three boats at the event would not fare as well, though. The Four's final time of 7:35.3 was nearly six seconds back of California's 7:29.6.
The Novice Eight finished almost 19 seconds behind California, which won the race in a time of 7:10.5.
In the day's main event between the rival I Eights, it was California that came out ahead with a time of 6:24.0. The time was four seconds ahead of Stanford's 6:24.0.
Stanford will return to action in two weeks at the Pac-10 Championships at Lake Natoma.
Stanford Lineup
I Eight
Nicole Weinrich (cox)
Elle Logan
Grace Luczak
Claire Grover
Lindsay Meyer
Michelle Vezie
Sarah Bolmer
Erika Roddy
Christina Bax
II Eight
Tiffany Dao (cox)
Susan Bryukhanov
Erin Radigan
Julianna Kapjian-Pitt
Julia Thompson
Kristy Wentzel
Marielle Higgins
Daphne Martschenko
Rebeca Felix
Four
Katie Lopez (cox)
Claire Fisher
Christina Walker
Carly Villareal
Chierika Ukogu
Novice Eight
Ayesha Rasheed (cox)
Laura Pospisil
Ali Fauci
Kelley Hug
Valerie Frank
Anne Levitsky
Shanique Martin
Annie Osborn
Elise Racine