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Results
Lineups
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GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The No. 13 Stanford men’s rowing team placed fourth at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships as the varsity eight earned a bronze medal.
The varsity eight had an incredible and improbable comeback in its race. At the midway mark, Stanford trailed Oregon State by about seven seats. The Beavers led by open water at one point in the race, but the Cardinal crew would not let down.
Seat-by-seat Stanford gained ground and would eventually overtake Oregon State down the stretch, even pulling away to win by several seconds.
“In 15 years, I don’t think I have seen one of our boats come from down over a boat length in the final 1,000 meters to finish ahead of somebody,” said head coach Craig Amerkhanian. “It was a courageous effort and I am proud of our guys.”
The varsity eight has now medaled every year since 2004. This was the eighth bronze medal earned during that span.
The 2V8 and 3V8 each placed fourth overall. The 2V8 posted a time of 6:21.0 to finish 4.5 seconds behind Oregon State. The 3V8 also battled hard but finished 6.5 seconds back of the Beavers. Both teams fell behind early and were unable to make a charge to get back in the hunt.
Stanford placed fourth as a team for the second straight season. The top two teams all season long, No. 1 Cal and No. 2 Washington, battled for the team championship with Washington earning the title.
At the awards ceremony after the event, senior Kaess Smit not only received his bronze medal for being in the varsity eight, but also the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
The Cardinal will be off for the next two weeks as they prepare for the final regatta of the year, the IRA National Championships in West Windsor, N.J. May 29-31.