May 15, 2011
LAKE NATOMA, Calif. - The No. 2 Stanford Lightweight Women raced in multiple events at a breezy Pacific Coast Rowing Championship and came home with some hardware.
The I Eight split up into two boats of four and finished in third and fourth place, respectively, behind Saint Mary's and California in the Collegiate Womens 4+ event.
The Lightweight Four had a great showing in their only race of the day as they finished with an open-water victory over UC Santa Barbara and California.
In the final race of the day, the I Eight and II Eight regrouped for the Grand Final of the Open 8+, battling it out with openweight crews from across the West Coast in a building head wind on Lake Natoma.
California took the lead early on, with Sacramento State and Stanford trailing. Through the middle of the 2,000 meter race, Stanford's I Eight moved through the Hornet boat and closed in on the Golden Bears, while the II Eight battled it out with two boats from UC Santa Barbara.
The Cardinal II Eight would eventually finish fifth with a time of 8:10.6. The Cardinal I Eight chased California all the way to the line, finishing second, four seconds behind the Golden Bears.
After a long day racing, with some rowers competing up to four different times, the crew and coaches were satisfied with the effort.
"This was a good day of racing and training," commented Stanford lightweight rowing head coach Al Acosta. "We asked a lot of the team today and they came through again and again."
Next up, the No. 2 Cardinal Lightweights will defend their 2010 national title at the IRA National Championships in Cherry Hill, N.J. from June 3-4.
Stanford Lineups
Collegiate 4+
A boat -- Tierney O' Rourke, Melissa Hesselgrave, Kit Evans, Carolyn Rennels, Alex Cours
B boat -- Mariel Lanas, Gen Tuveson, Gretchen Stumhofer, Liz Fenje, Ana Garbier
Open 8+
A boat -- Lanas, Tuveson, Stumhofer, Fenje, Garbier, Evans, Hesselgrave, Cours, Rennels
B boat -- Tierney O'Rourke, Natalie Norton, Molly Hayes, Kristin Goodsell, Karyn Haitz, Jen Kuang, Amy Kirkham, Julia Guenther, Rachel Pedreira
Collegiate Lightweight 4+
O'Rourke, Norton, Hayes, Goodsell, Haitz
Results
Collegiate Lightweight Varsity 4+
1. Stanford 8:32.6
2. UCSB 8:54.6
3. Cal 9:12.5
Collegiate 4+
1. Saint Mary's 8:19.4
2. Cal 8:21.1
3. Stanford A 8:30.2
4. UCLA 8:45.1
5. Stanford B 8:52.4
6. USC 8:54.6
Open 8+
1.) Cal 7:32.8
2.) Stanford A 7:38.3
3.) Sac State 7:45.0
4.) UCSB B 8:04.4
5.) Stanford B 8:10.6
6.) UCSB A 8:23.2