 |
May 13, 2007
GOLD RIVER, CALIF. - Racing concluded today at the 2007 Pac-10 Rowing Championships on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif. The Washington Huskies reclaimed the Pac-10 men's rowing throne from the California Golden Bears (2005 and 2006 champions) while the USC Trojans ascended to the top of the Pac-10 elite in women's crew to win their first conference rowing championship. The Washington Huskies racked up 69 points by winning both the men's varsity eight and second varsity eight grand finals and placing second in the freshman/novice eight grand final on their way to an unprecedented 29th Pac-10 men's rowing conference championship. The victory marks the ninth conference championship for the Huskies since head coach Bob Ernst took the program reins in 1987. Hot on the heels of the Huskies were 14-time conference champion California who would be edged by only three points, finishing in second with 66 total points. Rounding out the team scoring would be Stanford with 48; Oregon State 45; USC 32; UCLA 24 and Washington State with 18 points.
The USC women's rowing team outpaced the field by taking 71 out of a possible 80 points. With 40 points coming from a dominant showing in the women's varsity eight grand final, the Trojans would tack on their additional 31 by placing third in both grand finals for the women's varsity four and second varsity eight. The novice Trojan women would also qualify for their grand final for only the third time in program history and finish sixth in the final standings. This is the first ever conference championship for the USC women's rowing team and comes in the fifth year since husband and wife Zenon Babraj and Kelly Babraj took over the program. California would take second place amongst women's crews with 61 points, followed by Washington with 58; UCLA 56; Stanford and Oregon State with 51 points each and Washington State with 40. Stanford wins fifth place in the final team standings by virtue of a higher finish in the women's varsity eight grand final event.
The men's varsity eight grand final produced impressive times between schools that had been battling it out all day for Pac-10 supremacy. The California freshman/novice eight put on a clinic earlier in the day by putting a strangle hold on a lead they had created early in their race. Washington, Stanford and Oregon State would follow in that order. In the men's second varsity eight grand final, the Huskies would exact revenge on the Bears by crossing the finish line a solid six seconds before their competition. Stanford and Oregon State would arrive respectively in tow, but well behind the first and second place finishers. The men's varsity eight grand final brought about the same top four finish with Washington (5:46.20) coming out of the gate strong only to see Cal (5:47.80) make a strong argument from the silver medal spot second only to be turned away at the 350-meter mark. Once again, Stanford (5:53.00) and Oregon State (5:58.30) finished in third and fourth but this ti me by closer margins. "That varsity race was just awesome," said Husky head coach Bob Ernst, "Cal really brought it and there are just so many great athletes in this conference--but that is why the Pac-10 is the strongest rowing conference in the country. You have got to be good to win." The win in the men's varsity eight grand final would seal the deal for the Washington Huskies' men's crew as they would tally enough points to overtake defending men's champion California and reclaim the Pac-10 men's rowing championship. The California men's crew had won every event in 2006 with Washington claiming second place in those events three out of four times. "These guys put in so much hard work in some really rough weather. Our program isn't unique though. The Cal rowers and the Stanford guys put in just as much to be great and to go fast" said coach Ernst. "I'm just pleased that it was a wonderful race and that we won it. It was really important to us to be the point champions and to win the conference again." The USC women had performed well all day, including strong showings in the morning heats, but were within reach of perennial Pac-10 powers, California and Washington heading into the women's varsity eight grand final. With the lady Bruins hot on their trail at the halfway mark of the 2000-meter course, the Trojans began to make their move; leaving Stanford and Cal to battle it out for third place rights. The Cardinal and the Bears would however create a dramatic finish of their own by each overtaking UCLA in the final 500 meters of the race. Save the Trojans' (6:39.80) seemingly assured first place finish, the complexion of the final standings took on a new look down the stretch. Stanford (6:43.30) surged ahead to come in only four seconds behind the Trojans by edging out rival California (6:44.50) by a mere 1.2 seconds. UCLA would settle for fourth place, finishing at 6:48.70, but barely holding off the Oregon State (6:50.50) women who had also surged towards the end to ove rtake the lady Huskies (6:55.30). The USC win is the first ever varsity eight victory for the Trojans, who finished in third by just 1.3 seconds a year ago. "This is a great culmination to a great season for these kids. They worked hard and they had hard races but eventually, they put together a great team," said USC head coach and rowing director, Zenon Babraj. "We were confident that we could win the varsity eight race, but winning the conference championship is just icing on the top of the cake. Every one of our boats performed at their level or above and that is what brought the success we had today." In other men's races, the Washington (6:02.20) crew would hold off the Bears (6:08.10) to take the second varsity eight gold medal. Stanford (6:14.10) and Oregon State (6:39.40), left to battle it out for third would complete the race in that order. USC and Washington State would round out the men's second varsity eight grand final finishers. The men's freshman/novice eight shaped up to be three races in one. First place went to the Bears who were in their own duel with the Huskies but third place went to the Stanford men who would have to fight off an Oregon State push. UCLA at 6:34.20 would finish well ahead of USC at 6:43.80. Washington State and UC Davis would finish in seventh and eighth respectively after racing in the men's freshman/novice eight petite final. Other women's races on the day saw Washington edge the Gonzaga Bulldogs by a time of 7:39.70 to 7:42.20 in the women's varsity four grand final to win gold. The USC Trojans would finish, but four tenths of a second in front of Oregon State to claim the bronze medals with Stanford just as much in contention. Washington State would come in sixth overall ahead of UCLA, California and Sacramento State, who would finish in that order in the petit final. The women's second varsity eight grand final would be a tightly contested race for the most part until California pulled away in the home stretch to finish with a time of 6:53.10 with Washington (6:57.00) and USC (6:59.30) taking silver and bronze respectively. Rounding out the grand final finish were UCLA, Oregon State and Washington State. Gold in the women's novice eight would go to Gonzaga who would complete the race with an impressive time of 7:06.80. Washington's women's novice eight would come in second at 7:12.00 and UCLA would take bronze with a time of 7:14.00. Rounding out the women's novice eight field were Washington State and Oregon State and Saint Mary's College. The USC women's rowing team will next participate in the NCAA women's rowing championships on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. on May 25-27. The NCAA committee is also able to select and invite other Pac-10 women's crews or women's varsity eight boats to the championships. However, there is no NCAA men's rowing championship. Check the Pac-10 rowing website for announcements of the 2007 Pac-10 All-Academic and All Pac-10 Conference teams.
|
||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
