April 14, 2012

REDWOOD SHORES -

Following a two-week break, third-ranked California returned to action, taking two out of three races against fifth-ranked Wisconsin Saturday at the Stanford Invitational at Redwood Shores. The Golden Bears' varsity eight and freshman eight boats were victorious over the Badgers.

"The guys raced well, we tried some different combinations today," head coach Mike Teti said. "Wisconsin always gives us a good battle. They're a good crew across the board, and they're well-coached. Our guys executed their race plan, and I was happy with all of the performances."

The Cal varsity eight topped the Badgers by just under four seconds, 5:49.2-5:53. The freshman eight decisively defeated Wisconsin, 6:01-6:18.5. Teti noted the freshmen were outstanding today.

The Cal freshmen were also victorious against Oregon State and Orange Coast College.

One of the new combinations that Teti and the Cal coaching staff tried on Saturday was putting sophomore Spencer Hall in the stroke seat in the varsity eight.

"Putting Spencer in the stroke seat really made a difference," Teti said. "I've been really pleased with how he has developed. We had him in the stroke in the JV in San Diego, and we thought he was ready to take it to the next level."

Teti also mentioned how having last week off really helped the Bears all get healthy and enabled him to put his full team in the water today against a very tough Wisconsin squad.

"A few guys were ill when we raced in San Diego, so last week really gave them a chance to recover. We needed that week off because of the situation we were in."

Cal returns to Redwood Shores next weekend for the annual dual against No. 2 Washington.

2012 Stanford Invitational

Varsity Eight
1. California 5:49.2. Wisconsin 5:53.0
Cal lineup: Cox: Colby Rapson, Spencer Hall, James Scott, Matt Dignan, Ivan Ostojic, Chris Yeager, Cameron Klotz, Patrick McGlone, Christian Reynolds

Junior Varsity Eight
1. Wisconsin 5:55.0, 2. California 5:58.3
Cal lineup: Cox: Jonathan Hoon, Luka Dordevic, Igor Lucic, Christopher Caron-Marquis, Garrett Boccara, Chris DeRenzi, Steve Marino, Jack Farthing, Cole Reiser

Freshman Eight
1. California 6:01.0, 2. Wisconsin 6:18.5
Cal lineup: Cox: Maxwell Blumenthal, Louis Snelson, Jovan Jovanovic, Milivoj Vagic, Stephen Tuck, Morgan Weaver, Richard Walter, Jason Stroud, Michael Bernerius

Second Freshman Eight
1. California 6:13.5, 2. OCC 6:17.2

Freshman Eight
1. California 6:05.2, 2. Oregon State 6:24.9

Third Varsity Eight
1. California 6:03.3, 2. Santa Clara 6:15.5