Top Boats Duel on Lake Natoma

Lake Natoma Invitational
Lake Natoma • Gold River, Calif.
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Results

GOLD RIVER, Calif. – In a matchup of the top boats in the nation, No. 7 Stanford placed second in the varsity eight in the headline race of the Lake Natoma Invitational on Sunday.

In the varsity eight, No. 2 California and No. 1 Brown got off to a quick start. Stanford drew level with Brown about 300 meters in to the 2,000-meter course. California built about a third of a length lead. By the 500-meter mark, California and Stanford continued to move away from Brown with Cal extending its lead to two thirds of a length over second-place Stanford. The Cardinal clung to California's stern and moved to half a length over Brown as they reached the midpoint of the course. California broke contact with 750 meters to go. Brown charged but was only able to take one seat back. In the final 500 meters, Stanford pulled back to ‘bow to stern' with California and finished two thirds of a length up on Brown.

Stanford recorded a season-best time of 6:16.38. Cal captured the race with a time of 6:13.13, while Brown finished third with a time of 6:18.39. Stanford and Cal's times were both under the Lake Natoma course record set back in 2010. The Bears' time is the new the course record, while the Cardinal now owns the second fastest time recorded on the course.

"We treated the weekend like a preview to NCAA’s—facing top-notch competition on the 2016 NCAA course with back-to-back racing," Stanford head women's rowing coach Yasmin Farooq said. "The quality of the competition allowed us to put out different combinations and get some good feedback. Conditions were outstanding throughout the weekend and that made the battles that much more intense.

"The varsity eight raced well today and that final was blazing fast on flat water," Farooq added. "We lost some ground right out of the blocks and had to work to make that up. We were able to get ahead of Brown by the end but were unable to catch Cal. Cal rowed a really beautiful race from start to finish and took out the course record which has stood for six years. Hats off to them. Our varsity eight has held that record twice. Once for a year when we won the Pac-10s, and once for a day at the NCAA’s when it was broken the next day. Certainly it was great to break it again, but unfortunately Cal was a boatlength in front of us.”

“This weekend was a great opportunity to see some of the top teams in the country and to put our fitness to the test with three races in two days," senior Ellie Parker said. "We are looking forward to making some strides in the next two weeks before getting the chance to face Cal again at Big Row."
Brown won the second varsity eight race with a time of 6:18.94, edging California (6:19.91) for the top spot. Stanford was third with a time of 6:32.81.

The Cardinal varsity four placed third with a time of 7:12.88 on Sunday. California won the race with a time of 7:04.47, edging Brown (7:08.47) by four seconds.

The third varsity eight (6:38.76) captured the Petite Final on Sunday, defeating a pair of entries from Sacramento State (7:19.10, 7:25.40) by open water.

"We couldn't have asked for a better way to end the weekend than to face off against Cal and Brown this morning," senior Kay Rusher said. "It was a fast-paced, tough battle with all boats giving their best - just like NCAAs! We're excited to see how much speed we can gain before our next race!"

Stanford will return to the Lake Natoma course in less than a month, as the Cardinal will compete in the Pac-12 Championships on May 15.

Prior to that, Stanford will get a rematch with California as the rivals will once again go head-to-head in the 83rd annual Big Row at Redwood Shores on Saturday, April 30. Racing is slated to begin at 9 a.m. PT.

Lineups