April 6, 2008

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - The Saint Joseph's women's rowing team faced its toughest competition of the season as it participated in the San Diego Crew Classic.

The Freshman 8 had a tough draw in the unseeded event, facing Washington, Clemson, San Diego State, UCLA and Sacramento State. In the heat the top two finishers would go to the Grand Final, with third and fourth going to the Petite final. The Hawks came out strong, but Washington took control of the race and SJU battled Clemson and UCLA for the final spot. But the Hawks made a strong move in the last 500 meters to come through UCLA and earn the fourth spot and the berth in the Petite Final. The time turned in by the Hawks would have won the heat that followed theirs.

In the final, SJU moved away from Stanford and it became a two-boat race between SJU and Clemson. In the end the freshmen finished second in the Petite Final to Clemson and ahead of Stanford, San Diego, Santa Barbara and UC Irvine.

The 2nd Varsity 8 also had a tremendous race against many of the nation's top 20 teams. After a hard-fought heat SJU advanced to the Petite Final on Sunday. The final turned out to be a strong fight as Louisville took first with SJU place 5th in a pack that had a five-second separation between second and fifth places.

The Varsity 8 had a bittersweet trip. The confident squad had great practices in San Diego and owned the number-one seed. SJU had a strong start in the heat, but after five strokes captain Debbie Bateman's gate came open and she lost her oar. Bateman dove into Mission Bay to eliminate the dead weight as the Hawks' seven oarswomen had to finish the final 1900 meters. SJU stayed with the pack through 1000m but the pace it had set took its toll in the third 500. In the final 500m SJU recorded the second fastest split and closed on the field, finishing ahead of Arizona State and just four seconds down on Villanova. The Hawks advanced to the third final and won by open water.

Impressively, the Varsity 8 posted the 13th fastest time in the heat out of 21 boats while rowing with only seven oarswomen.

"The V8 was disappointed because we felt that we had a great opportunity to win, but we had some bad luck. Our reaction was amazing though on and off the water. We were realistic and proud of the effort that we displayed -staying with the pack, undermanned. Our determination was awesome and I think that we grew a lot as a crew. All our crews had a great pulls out here," said coach Gerry Quinlan.

The Hawks see action again on Friday and Saturday at the George Washington Invitational.