16TH AT IRAs
Stanford's varsity eight placed second in its final to highlight the Cardinal at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships at Lake Natoma in June. Stanford, which raced three entries in the national championship regatta, placed 16th in the final team standings. Along with the second-place finish in the third level final by the Cardinal's top boat, Stanford's second varsity eight placed fifth in its third level final and the Cardinal third varsity eight finished fourth in its third level final.
PAC-12 NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Sophomore Brennan Wertz was named the Pac-12 Conference Men's Rowing Newcomer of the Year. The Cardinal had two representatives on the All-Pac-12 Team, as junior Jovanni Stefani joined Wertz on the conference's 14-man all-star team.
Wertz rowed in the varsity eight that was ranked in the top-15 all season. Stanford's top boat placed third in the Pac-12 Rowing Championships in May and 16th at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships at Lake Natoma. Wertz traveled to Germany in January to study abroad at the Stanford campus in Berlin as part of the Bing Overseas Studies Program. He spent four months in Germany, returning to Stanford's main campus in April and re-joining the men's rowing team. Wertz quickly earned a spot in the varsity eight, rowing in the seven seat of the Cardinal's top boat that defeated Oregon State and Hobart prior to the conference championship regatta. Stefani, an engineering major, rowed in the varsity eight all season. He competed primarily in the two seat in the Cardinal's top boat.
PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Senior Brendan Larkin was named the Pac-12 Men's Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year, giving the Cardinal its fourth consecutive men's rowing honor. The award, which is presented in each of the 23 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.
Larkin has rowed in the second varsity eight for the Cardinal all season, primarily in the bow seat. He helped guide the Cardinal to a third-place finish in the Pac-12 Championships last season.
An electrical engineering major with a concentration in software and signal processing, the senior's cumulative grade-point average of 3.97 is one of the highest among Stanford student-athletes. He was a First Team Pac-12 All-Academic and a First Team Intercollegiate Rowing Association All-Academic selection last season. Larkin, who served as a resident assistant in one of the dorms on the Stanford campus, was a recipient of the Stanford President's Award for Academic Excellence for finishing in the top three percent of his class as a freshman.
BRONZE AT PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
The No. 10 Stanford men's rowing varsity eight placed third in its grand final at the Pac-12 Rowing Championships at Lake Natoma in May. The Cardinal second varsity eight placed third and the third varsity eight placed fourth in the conference championship regatta.
The Cardinal, which totaled 49 points to place fourth as a team at the conference championships regatta, was one point shy of Oregon State for third place. Washington (72 points) won the conference championship regatta and California (65 points) placed second.
MOST STUDENT-ATHLETES IN THE CONFERENCE ON ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Headlined by the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Brendan Larkin (electrical engineering), 18 Stanford men's rowers were named to the conference's all-academic team.
The Cardinal had the most representatives of any conference school on the Pac-12 Men's Rowing All-Academic squad for the second consecutive year. Stanford has totaled 36 all-academic honorees in the past two seasons and has placed 15 or more on the Pac-12 All-Academic Team in eight of the last nine years.
Larkin was one of five members of the Cardinal to earn first team all-academic honors, joining Ryan Buchanan (undeclared), Isabelle Morris (psychology), Will Nuelle (undeclared) and Will Spencer (mechanical engineering).
John Cirenza (biomechanical engineering), Ryan Hails (computer science), Erik Holmvik (political science), Ardsley Sanders (earth systems), Jaisel Sandhu (undeclared), Bart Scherpbier (undeclared) and Brennan Wertz (undeclared) captured second team all-academic honors. Wertz was also honored as the Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year earlier this week.
John Coffey (undeclared), Allen Hosler (undeclared), Ryan O'Rourke (mechanical engineering), Allen Reitz (undeclared), Daniel Schmid (undeclared) and Peter Wood (chemistry) were all-academic honorable mention selections.
BIG ROW
In a battle of two of the top crews in the nation, No. 1 California defeated No. 12 Stanford in the 84th annual Big Row at the end of April at Redwood Shores.
The Cardinal varsity eight raced down the course in 5:48.85, with the Golden Bears taking the race with a time of 5:41.63. Cal has captured the Schwabacher Cup the last four years. California won the second varsity eight race with a time of 5:45.70. Stanford completed the race in 6:08.67.
The freshman eight race also went to the Golden Bears. Cal finished the race in 5:52.57 to Stanford's time of 6:06.37.
VARSITY EIGHT TAKES TWO OF THREE IN STANFORD INVITATIONAL
No. 11 Stanford men's rowing defeated No. 20 Oregon State in the varsity eight race on the first day of the Stanford Invitational at Redwood Shores. The Stanford varsity eight raced down the course in 6:01.2 to defeat Oregon State (6:04.4) by a length to claim the victory over the Beavers.
On The second day of the two-day regatta, the Stanford varsity eight split its two races. During the morning session, Stanford faced No. 2 Washington, with the Huskies posting the best time of the regatta (5:35.8) to defeat the Cardinal (5:53.6). The Cardinal closed the regatta with an open-water victory over Hobart, completing the course in 5:43.44. The time was tied for the third best of the regatta. Stanford defeated the Statesman (5:54.17) by 11 seconds.
BRONZE FINISH FOR CARDINAL VARSITY EIGHT AT CREW CLASSIC
Stanford placed two of its three entries in the top three during the Grand Finals of the San Diego Crew Classic on Mission Bay. The Cardinal varsity eight placed third in the Grand Final of the Copley Cup. Stanford raced down the course in 5:50.02 to finish behind first-place California (5:35.50) and second-place Yale (5:39.01).
The novice eight placed second in the Derek Guelker Cup Grand Final with an open-water advantage over third place Orange Coast. The Cardinal recorded a time of 6:12.71, ahead of Orange Coast's 6:19.44. California claimed the Grand Final with a time of 5:54.35.
Stanford's second varsity eight finished fifth in the Grand Final of the Sharp Cabrillo Cup with a time of 6:13.58.
AMERKHANIAN COMPLETES 17TH SEASON WITH CARDINAL
Stanford head men's rowing coach Craig Amerkhanian completed his 17th season at the helm of the Cardinal men's rowing program in 2017. A two-time conference Coach of the Year, Amerkhanian has coached several All-Americans and Olympians during his time on The Farm.