March 31, 2009

This Week
California competes in the San Diego Crew Classic on Saturday and Sunday, April 4-5, at Crown Point Shores at Mission Bay in San Diego. The Golden Bears will compete in several races, with Cal's varsity eight vying for the Copley Cup in the top collegiate race at the regatta. The Bears placed fourth in last year's Copley Cup.

The 2009 Copley Cup field includes defending champion Washington, Cal, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Oregon State, Syracuse, Purdue, Brown and Michigan. Washington's varsity eight was the IRA national runner-up last season, with Cal's varsity eight finishing third and Stanford's top boat taking fifth.

Please visit http://www.crewclassic.org/results/2009_schedule.html for the regatta schedule. Live results are available via http://twitter.com/crewclassic. Live streaming of the regatta can be found at http://crewclassic.org/video/

ESPNU will broadcast highlights from the San Diego Crew Classic at 4 p.m. PT on May 7.

Bears Win 5 Races at Pac-10 Challenge
Cal's second varsity 8 defeated Santa Clara's top boat by almost nine seconds on March 29 to conclude the Golden Bears' weekend at the Pac-10 Challenge. In all, Cal won all five of its races in the two-day event hosted by Stanford. Cal's second varsity 8 topped the Broncos' varsity 8, 6:01.8-6:10.2.

On March 28, won all four of its races by wide margins. The Bears' second varsity 8 had the widest disparity, finishing by 30.1 seconds ahead of USC's varsity 8, 5:41.8-6:11.9 in the afternoon session of the two-day regatta.

Cal won its first race on March 28 against Orange Coast College in a battle of second varsity 8 boats, 5:36.3-6:00.3. The Bears' freshman 8 defeated Gonzaga, 5:45.2-6:12.2, in the morning and Orange Coast College, 6:24.6-6:49.0, in the afternoon.

Cal at the 2008 San Diego Crew Classic
Cal's varsity eight took fourth place in the grand final of the Copley Cup with a time of 5:45.40 at the 2008 San Diego Crew Classic. The Bears also produced two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes in three other grand finals on the last day of the two-day regatta.

Washington, the 2007 IRA varsity eight champion, claimed the Copley Cup with a time of 5:39.90.

The Bears took second place in the novice eight final (Derek Guelker Memorial Cup) with a time of 6:05.33. Washington also won that race, in a time of 6:01.80.

Cal took second place in the open eight (Joan Ward Memorial Trophy) with its B boat, which rowed a time of 6:11.53. The Cal A open eight was third in a time of 6:12.53. In the junior varsity eight final (Sharp Cabrillo Cup), Cal placed third in a time of 5:56.68.

Next Week
Cal is off until it rows against Pac-10 foe Washington on April 25 on Montlake Cut in Seattle.