April 4, 1998

SAN DIEGO - The Cal women's varsity eight came up just short in its Whittier Cup heat at the San Diego Crew Classic on Mission Bay, Saturday April 4. After losing ground in the early going to Washington, Northeastern, and Wisconsin, the Bears mounted a charge in the final 500 meters, but were unable earn the third and final qualifying spot for the grand final. Ultimately, the Bears finished in fourth in their heat, 1.5 seconds behind the Badgers.

On Sunday, April 5, the varsity eight will race Washington St., Stanford, Ohio St., Syracuse and Penn in the petite final to determine the order of finish for places 7-12. Cal figures to be in the hunt to cross the line first as it posted the fastest tome among those crews in the heats.

In the JV event, race officials ruled that the Cal JV eight's progress was hindered when Oregon State veered into its lane and despite finishing 1.4 seconds back of Radcliffe for the second and final qualifying position, the Bears were granted a berth in the final. The despite posting the fifth fastest time of the seven qualifiers, the Cal JV will face an uphill battle rowing on the outside in lane seven.

The women's novice eight also had some success on Saturday. In their qualifying heat, the Bears showed that they had a good bit of boat speed, posting the one of the top times in the event. However, after finishing nine seconds behind rival Washington in the heat, the Cal novice eight's task of knocking off the favorite Huskies in the grand final on Sunday seems daunting. Racing kicks off at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning with the Cal women seeing their first action in the women's novice eight grand final at 10:50. Cal's JV eight will race at 11:10 with the women's varsity racing the petite final of the Whittier Cup at 2:00.

San Diego Crew Classic Results:  (2000 meters on Mission Bay)

Women's Varsity                                     
Whittier Cup                                        
Heat 1                      Heat 2                      
1.  Michigan    6:52.70     1.  Washington  6:50.72             
2.  Radcliffe   6:57.63     2.  Northeastern    6:56.47             
3.  Oregon St.  6:59.95     3.  Wisconsin   6:58.27             
4.  Wash. St.   7:04.19     4.  Cal 6:59.80             
5.  Ohio St.    7:05.66     5.  Syracuse    7:09.86             
6.  Stanford    7:05.92     6.  Penn    7:11.48             
                                        
Women's JV                                      
Heat 1                      Heat 2                      Heat 3      
1.  Michigan    6:53.50     1.  Washington  6:53.80     1.  Wisconsin   6:52.34
2.  Radcliffe   6:54.72     2.  Stanford    7:11.68     2.  Northeastern    7:06.42
3.  Cal 6:56.08             3.  USC 7:15.46             3.  Penn    7:09.28
4.  Wash. St.   6:58.10     4.  SDSU    7:16.01         4.  Syracuse    7:13.08
5.  Oregon St.  7:06.71     5.  UC Davis    7:17.30     5.  Sac. State  7:28.31
6.  Orange Coast  7:22.01   6.  Villanova   7:19.82             
                                        
Women's Novice                                      
Heat 1                       Heat 2                       Heat 3      
1.  Washington  6:48.22     1.  Wash. State 7:02.00       1.  Oregon St.  6:58.60
2.  Cal 6:58.67             2.  Michigan St.    7:08.13   2.  Texas   7:07.20
3.  UC Davis    7:19.67     3.  Stanford    7:08.34       3.  Sac State   7:17:20
4.  Trinity 7:32.92         4.  Orange Coast    7:15.78   4.  UCSD    7:34.97
5.  Chapman 7:37.86         5.  Colorado    7:23.99       5.  UCSB    7:36.48
6.  SDSU    7:47.52         6.  UCI 7:25.67               6.  Long Beach St.  7:48.86
                            7.  Loyola  7:40.60           7.  Mills   7:51.68