April 6, 2008
SAN DIEGO - California's varsity eight boat took fourth place in the grand final of the Copley Cup with a time of 5:45.40 on Sunday at the San Diego Crew Classic at Mission Bay. The Golden Bears also produced two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes in three other grand finals on the last day of the two-day regatta.
Washington, the defending IRA varsity eight champion, claimed the Copley Cup with a time of 5:39.90.
"Today we got off to a very good first 1000-1200 meters, and we were pleased with that," Cal head coach Steve Gladstone said of the varsity eight race. "And then had some bobbles, miscues, and loss of rhythm and the field came back through us. The positive side is that we showed some good signs of speed at a reasonable cadence. The less than desirable side was not sustaining that. We've got work to do. We'll continue to get better.
"We don't have a combination yet that I feel is really representative of our team speed. That's normal. On April 5 and 6, these aren't the championships yet; that's not till around June 6. We have some work to do between now and then. We can learn to sustain that speed. When we do, I think we can come out on top."
The Bears took second place in the novice eight final (Derek Guelker Memorial Cup) with a time of 6:05.33. Washington also won that race, in a time of 6:01.80.
"The freshman would've liked to have been next to the Washington freshman," Gladstone said. "They were in lane 1 and we were in lane 3. That doesn't play that well in San Diego. We're confident that we'll stack up well as the season goes on.
"It was a very tough field overall, and you want to come away with all the wins. Losing under any circumstances is bitter. That being said, this is just the opening round. If this was the IRAs, I wouldn't be pleased."
Cal took second place in the open eight (Joan Ward Memorial Trophy) with its B boat, which rowed a time of 6:11.53. The Cal A open eight was third in a time of 6:12.53. In the junior varsity eight final (Sharp Cabrillo Cup), Cal placed third in a time of 5:56.68.
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The Bears next compete in the Stanford Invitational April 19-20 in Redwood Shores, Calif.
Cal's San Diego Crew Classic Results
Sunday's Finals
Varsity 8 (Copley Cup)
1. Washington 5:39.90. 2. Princeton 5:41.80. 3. Harvard 5:43.89. 4. Cal 5:44.15. 5. Northeastern 5:44.18. 6. Stanford 5:44.38. 7. Yale 5:45.37.
Novice 8 (Derek Guelker Memorial Cup)
1. Washington 6:01.8. 2. Cal 6:05.33. 3. Stanford 6:12.46. 4. Oregon State 6:16.67. 5. Penn 6:30.07. 6. USD 6:34.65.
Junior Varsity 8 (Sharp Cabrillo Cup)
1. Harvard 5:52.31 2. Washington 5:54.22. 3. Cal 5:56.68. 4. Oregon State 6:00.78. 5. Stanford 6:04.40. 6. UC Davis A 6:14.30.
Open 8 (Joan Ward Memorial Trophy)
1. USC 5:58.94. 2. Cal B 6:11.53. 3. Cal A 6:12.53. 4. Everett 6:30.72. 5. Marin 6:31.85. 6. M Rowing 6:38.29.
