April 28, 2012

Teti Interview

REDWOOD SHORES -

It was a golden day at Redwood Shores for fourth-ranked California men's crew, as the Golden Bears swept all three races over rival and ninth-ranked Stanford in The Big Row on Saturday. With the varsity eight win, the Bears retained the Schwabacher Cup for the 21st time in the last 22 years.

"I thought today was a good day for all the crews," head coach Mike Teti said. The crews performed really well today. We've had our difficulties this year with injuries and illnesses. The guys have kind of worked through it. I'm really pleased with the way they've hung in there."

In a series that dates back to 1902, Cal leads the all-time series in the dual against Stanford, 61-18.

Despite the importance of the racing in the water, the Bears remembered the significance of this event as a day to remember Jill Costello. In honor of Costello, the Cal men wore pink block C uniforms on Saturday. Both Stanford crews also wore special uniforms in honor of Costello.

"Obviously today is about Jill and to remember Jill," Teti said. "I think that her spirit was with both teams today. It's great to remember Jill and to remember all that she's done for our program, for Cal and for rowing. It's an emotional race for our kids. They all knew her. You have that little extra bit of emotion."

Following last week's tough outing against Washington, the Bears needed to come back strong against Stanford, and they did just that. Cal will now carry some momentum heading into the conference championships in two weeks.

"We changed the lineups," Teti said. "We went back to the same lineups we had in San Diego. We had Luka [Dordevic], who was ill and missed San Diego, in the varsity boat. That seemed to help. We'll start there as a base and try to build off of that."

The closest finish of the day was the varsity eight event for the Schwabacher Cup. Cal topped Stanford by four seconds, 5:37.6-5:41.7. The Bears won decisively in the junior varsity eight and freshman eight events.

Despite the strong effort on Saturday, Teti said the Bears will have to continue to improve if they want to contend for the Pac-12 title.

"We have to get better; We have to get faster," Teti said. "If we want to win a national championship, we have to get faster. We're working on that. I think the guys are open to doing what we ask them to do to try to get faster."

Cal has next week off as it prepares for the Pac-12 Championships on Sunday, May 13, at Laka Natoma.

2012 Big Row

Varsity Eight
1. California 5:37.6, 2. Stanford 5:41.7
Cal lineup: Cox: Colby Rapson, Christian Reynolds, Luka Dordevic, Cameron Klotz, Patrick McGlone, Ivan Ostojic, Chris Yeager, James Scott, Jack Farthing

Junior Varsity Eight
1. California 5:52.4, 2. Stanford 6:04
Cal lineup: Cox: Chelsea Lucas, Cole Reiser, Isaac Holden, Steve Marino, Chris DeRenzi, Garrett Boccara, Matt Dignan, Igor Lucic, Spencer Hall

Freshman Eight
1. California 5:45.2, 2. Stanford 6:11.6
Cal lineup: Cox: Michael Delahanty, Sean Murphy, Richard Walter, Jason Stroud, Stephen Tuck, Milivoj Vagic, Christian Kader, Jovan Jovanovic, Louis Snelson