REDWOOD SHORES - Last Saturday, April 30th, California raced Stanford at the Big Row in Redwood Shores. No. 2 ranked Cal crews won all their races by a convincing margin and posted some solid times on a course they have raced three weeks in a row. The squad used the racing to refine their technique and practice their race plans in the final races before the Pac-12 Championships, May 15th at Lake Natoma.

The Big Row is an annual event held by California and Stanford in support of lung cancer research. The California crews raced in their “Team Jill” uniforms in remembrance of former Cal women's coxswain Jill Costello. Jill passed away following a battle with lung cancer in 2010. Through all the chemotherapy and radiation treatment, she kept competing when well enough to race. She coxed Cal's Varsity 8 to a fourth place finish at NCAA in May 2010 and passed away just weeks after. While the racing was competitive, the Big Row brought together Stanford and California athletes in recognition of Jill's Legacy and allowed competitors from both sides to reflect the close bond shared by the universities.

“I was really glad to see our student-athletes finish out our regular season with three out of three wins on Saturday. While the racing is competitive and the Cal Stanford rivalry is historic, the real reason for the Big Row is to honor Jill Costello and her battle with lung cancer.” said head coach Mike Teti.

Conditions were breezy, with a moderate cross-wind developing throughout the morning. Racing started at 9:00 a.m. with the second varsity event. Cal set out strongly and held a convincing lead over Stanford by the first 500 meter marker. The crew continued to stretch their lead through the remainder of the race, finishing comfortably ahead of Stanford with a time of 5:47.16.

The first varsity was the next race in the men's events. Cal continued to show their dominance by crossing the line with a 13 second lead over Stanford. The Cal crew was the same as the crew that won against Washington last week and shows an extremely promising lineup in the countdown to the championship races of the season. Demonstrating the same composure and speed the crew posted a fast time of 5:36.63.

Cal's third boat to race on Saturday was the final race of the Big Row 2016. The Cal freshmen pushed away from the Stanford third varsity crew throughout the race, finishing thirty seconds ahead of Stanford in a time of 5:53.75.

The results of Saturday morning's racing were as follows:

This was the last event for California at Redwood Shores this season. California will race again in two weeks at Lake Natoma in Sacramento for the Pac-12 Championships. Information on the event will be posted next week.