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Results
Lineups
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GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The No. 1 Stanford lightweight rowing team was impressive on the first day of the WIRA Championships, winning all three of its races to reach the finals.
“We went out there with a really good attitude and were ready to row our own race,” said freshman coxswain Shea Cours, who guided both the novice and 2V8 boats to victory on Saturday.
The novice eight started the day off in style. The boat featured eight freshman and senior walk-on Amanda So. It was the first time the nine individuals have raced together in competition and just the second day they have been together period. Each of the nine have seen action in either the varsity eight or 2V8 this season.
Racing against five openweight squads, the novice eight sputtered at the start but quickly gathered itself to take the lead by the 250-meter mark. A strong effort pushed them further ahead by the midway point of the race and coming into the final 500 meters they had opened up several lengths of open water. Orange Coast had a furious push at the end to finish within eight seconds of the Cardinal, but the race was never in doubt for the young Stanford squad.
The Cardinal novice eight advanced to the finals with a first place finish. They will race at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Next up was the 2V8, which featured six of the individuals who competed in the novice eight earlier in the day. Even though the group got off to another slow start they did not let up. Sacramento State was in the lead off the line, but by the 500-meter mark Stanford had taken a three-seat lead.
By the halfway point they had extended the lead to a boat length and maintained the advantage through the finish. Stanford finished in 7:21.7 to beat out Sacramento State and will race in the finals tomorrow at 11:10 a.m.
“We are super excited to be going to the finals,” said Cours. “The novice boat should be a lot of fun because it will feature the teams that all won the heats and should be a good race. The JV will be the same teams as today.”
The varsity eight was the third boat up and followed suit. Stanford got off to a lead early on and was up five seats on Sacramento State, which was in a battle Seattle and San Diego State. The Cardinal continued to push forward with a strong middle half of the race. Holding the lead up until the very end, Stanford crossed the line in 7:05.1, nearly six seconds in front of Sacramento State.
“We did a good job of handling the change in wind directions and not let it affect our race,” said sophomore Christine Cavallo.
Stanford’s top eight is still undefeated on the year, having won all six of its races. The Cardinal will look to continue its hot start in the final tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.