May 4, 2013
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. - No. 10 Stanford women's rowing dropped all four of its races at The Big Row Saturday as California claimed the Lambert Cup for the fourth straight year.
The Cardinal will get another crack at California in two weeks at the Pac-12 Championships, set for May 19 at Lake Natoma.
"Cal earned the day today and gave us a good gauge for where we are at this moment," said Stanford head coach Yasmin Farooq. "Our second varsity eight had a good start and led to the 1,000 meter mark, but Cal had a stronger back half of the race. I had hoped the varsity eights race would be more of a battle, but Cal owned the race from the start. Conditions were excellent and the racing was fast. Several course records went down including the men's and women's varsity eights."
In the I Eight main event, the Cardinal's final time of 6:20.7 came in six seconds back of California's 6:14.7, a new course record.
The II Eight came in just under five seconds behind California, the Cardinal's 6:28.0 behind the 6:23.2 of the Golden Bears. California would go on to an open-water win in the Four race, its time of 7:11.6 coming in 19 seconds ahead of Stanford's 7:30.8.
The teams raced two additional races, with California taking both the Novice Eight and II Four competitions. In the Novice Eight race, California's 6:48.0 bested Stanford's 7:07.8 while in the II Four California's 7:39.7 was nearly 14 seconds ahead of Stanford's 7:53.4.
Stanford and California raced in honor of Jill Costello, Cal's I Eight coxswain who succumbed to lung cancer in 2010. California raced as "Team Jill" in `sea foam green,' Jill's favorite color, and Stanford raced in pink "Block S" tank tops with a sea foam green ribbon. Stanford also unveiled the "Bill Kolker Memorial Trophy" for the winner of the women's II Eight race. Kolker, the quintessential "team dad" for Stanford teams in the early 2000s, passed away this past December. He was the father of Pac-10 Champ and two-time Olympian Sabrina Kolker '03. Sabrina presented the trophy to the winning boat from California.
"We will always be proud to race in honor of Jill at this race. Her memory inspires us all and she will never be forgotten," Farooq said. "Likewise, being able to remember Bill every year by awarding his trophy to the winner of the second varsity eight is a reminder of his incredible support of this team. It's a symbol of the support that both of our teams receive from our wonderful network of parents."
Stanford Boat Lineups
I Eight
Naomi Cornman (coxswain)
Lindsay Meyer
Anna Dawson
Daphne Martschenko
Caitlin Byrnes
Amanda Lorei
Sarah Bolmer
Kristy Wentzel
Christina Bax
II Eight
Liza Gurtin (coxswain)
Alison Fauci
Simone Jacobs
Julianna Kapjian-Pitt
Claire Grover
Filippa Karrfelt
Katie Toothman
Nancy Miles
Chierika Ukogu
Four
Katie Lopez (coxswain)
Courtney Carrabino
Alix Chrumka
Meredith Fischer
Kay Rusher
Novice Eight
Autumn Turpin (coxswain)
McKayla Taaffe
Katerina Gregoriou
Taylor Burdge
Ellie Parker
Lilly Smith
Hope Sheils
Aishwarya Vardhana
Paige Watson
II Four
Molly Horwitz (coxswain)
Elise Guinee-Cooper
Maddy McCartney
Valerie Frank
Nicole Gilmore