March 20, 2008

BERKELEY - California earned the No. 9 spot in the preseason USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA Division I Varsity Eight Coaches Poll. The Golden Bears received 249 points in the coaches' poll. They rank behind No. 8 Tennessee (316) and ahead of No. 10 Stanford (236).

Cal is coming off a seventh-place overall finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships. The Bears' varsity eight placed 13th at the NCAA Championships last season after taking second in 2006 and winning the title in 2005. The Bears won the overall NCAA team title in 2005 and in 2006.

Yale (477 points, 21 first-place votes) is the preseason No. 1. Virginia (431, 2) is ranked second. The Pac-10 has a total of six teams ranked in the poll, including No. 4 USC (393), No. 12 UCLA (184), No. 14 Washington State (161) and No. 16 Washington (109).

Cal opens the 2008 season with the Pac-10 Rowing Challenge slated for March 29-30 in Redwood Shores, Calif.