Course Record

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – In the 82nd Big Row, the No. 1 Stanford lightweight rowing team came away with two victories against Cal, including setting a course record.

“We have been using a lot of races to test out what works best for us as we get ready for the IRA Championships,” said senior Bailey Yuro.

It was the final home race for five Stanford seniors. Mackenzie Crist (art practice), Jordan Duval-Smith (science, technology and society), Alicia Kapjian-Pitt (communication), Amanda So (management science and engineering) and Bailey Yuro (human biology) capped off their Redwood Shores career with impressive victories.

“It was weird warming up today,” said Yuro. “We have a beautiful place to row. I have been in denial that I am graduating but it has to come sometime. Today was one of my last rows with a really great team on a beautiful day and I’m really happy to have had this time with them.”

Duval-Smith, a coxswain from San Francisco, called a great race for the varsity eight against the Cal openweight 3V8. Fellow seniors Crist and Yuro helped provide the speed that sent the Cardinal to a blistering time of 6:37.4. The time set a team course record by one second and was the second fastest time of the year for the Cardinal.

The Golden Bears kept it close through the first 400 meters before Stanford started to move out ahead. The Cardinal ended up winning by nearly 13 seconds and remains undefeated on the year with wins in all eight spring races.

Alicia Kapjian-Pitt, whose older sister Julianna led the women’s alumni boat to a victory at the start of the day, was in the 2V8 along with senior walk-on Amanda So. The race was never really in doubt as they cruised past Cal’s 4V8 to take the win by almost 27 seconds with a time of 5:53.3.

The victory gives Stanford’s 2V8 four straight wins and five overall this year.

Stanford will look to continue its strides towards the IRA Championships when they compete at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships on Lake Natoma in two weeks on Saturday, May 16.