GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The No. 12 Stanford men’s rowing team placed fourth at the Pac-12 Championships on Sunday at Lake Natoma.
“The goal was to get third place,” said head coach Craig Amerkhanian. “Every member of our program raced today so that was great. Unfortunately we had two boats get outsprinted and that was tough. We have a lot of work to do to get ready for nationals.”
The Cardinal tallied 48 points to finish just two points shy of No. 14 Oregon State. No. 1 Washington won the Pac-12 title with 70 points, five points ahead of No. 2 Cal.
The Stanford varsity eight recorded a podium finish, earning bronze in the final race of the day. Stanford was in third place from start to finish as they clocked a 5:53.8. The Huskies finished first in the event to claim the team title as they were 1.2 seconds ahead of Cal.
“We were pretty serious underdogs coming in to the race,” said senior Austin Hack. “We wanted to come out and go as hard as we could and stick with it. We had a really good first 500 meters and then it was just staying in third to lock up a qualify spot for IRA’s.”
Both the second varsity eight and frosh eight placed fourth. The 2V8 was in third through the first 1,500 meters, but could not hold off a sprint in the final 500 by Oregon State. The Beavers passed them at the end to finish 0.5 seconds ahead. Stanford had a time of 6:07.4. The frosh eight also lost the lead in the final 500 meters, as Oregon State walked on them to finish in third by 1.5 seconds. The Cardinal’s time was 6:08.1.
For the first time this spring, Stanford fielded a varsity four boat. The Cardinal finished the race in 7:25.5 to take fifth place in the event.
“The varsity four was just put together so great racing by those guys,” said Amerkhanian. “I am really proud of those guys.”
Hack, a political science major, was named the Pac-12 Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year following the day’s racing. He is the third Stanford men’s rower to receive the award.
“It is definitely a huge honor,” said Hack. “I have been recognized for my rowing accomplishments, but it feels good to be recognized academically. I know there are a lot of smart guys on our team and other teams as well so it is an honor to receive this award.”
Sunday was the final tune-up for the IRA National Championships, which will take place May 28-31 in West Windsor, N.J.
Pac-12 Championships
Lake Natoma
Gold River, Calif.
May 18, 2014
Results
Varsity Eight
1. Washington – 5:36.1
2. Cal – 5:37.3
3. Stanford – 5:53.8
4. Oregon State – 5:56.7
5. Washington State – 6:10.6
6. Colorado – 6:53.8
Second Varsity Eight
1. Cal – 5:46.4
2. Washington – 5:48.
3. Oregon State – 6:06.9
4. Stanford – 6:07.4
Varsity Four
1. Washington – 6:26.1
2. Cal – 6:29.3
3. Oregon State – 6:55.6
4. Washington State – 7:09.3
5. Stanford – 7:25.5
Frosh Eight
1. Washington – 5:50.3
2. Cal – 5:53.7
3. Oregon State – 6:06.6
4. Stanford – 6:08.1
5. Colorado – 6:54.7
Boat Lineups
1V8: Coxswain Nathalie Weiss, Austin Hack, Max Freundlich, Nico Cserepy, Dave Dolben, Kaess Smit, Robbie Ostrow, Ben Chuter, Scott Roycroft
2V8: Coxswain Greg Wolk, Kendall Fagan, Karl Wessendorf, Andrew Gyenis, Andrew Terajewicz, Max Drach, Ben Weems, Will Robins, Cole Johnson
1V4: Coxswain Robert Kimmelman, Shayne Longpre, Grant Means, Taylor O'Brien, Abdulla Janahi
F8: Coxswain Ardsley Sanders, Ryan Hails, Sean-Patrick Sullivan, Ryan O'Rourke, Charlie Walker, Peter Wood, Grant Glazer, Erik Holmvik, Brendan Larkin