No. 4 Cal Sets Sights On Simpson Cup

BERKELEY – The No. 4 California women's rowing team will host No. 7 Washington in the annual duel for the Simpson Cup Saturday morning at the Redwood Shores in Redwood City. This will mark the 47th all-time meeting between the two programs in a series that dates back to 1977. The Huskies own a 26-20 series lead and have won the last two head-to-head duels, however, the Golden Bears had won 15 of 16 during a span between 2004-19.
 
"The biggest challenge is recovering from this weekend and getting our legs back underneath us," Cal head coach Al Acosta said. "As far as what we've learned over the last two weeks and the kids having had a lot of good racing experience, there was some good and some bad, but a lot of opportunities to figure things out. We've had a few more races than we normally would have by this point in the season, so I think there's a lot of confidence in what the team is going to be able to throw down on Saturday."
 
At last year's duel at the Montlake Cut in Seattle, Cal won three out of five races but lost the pivotal varsity eight race to lose the Simpson Cup, earned by the winner of the varsity eight race. The cup was donated by longtime Washington supporters Hunter and Dottie Simpson, whose daughter Anne rowed at Cal. The Bears won the 2V8+, 3V8+ and 4V8+ races in last year's clash.
 
"Washington has been our primary rival since women's rowing started here 49 years ago, so it's big for this team and big for the alums," Acosta said. "At the same time, it's also a race in the middle of the season, so you have to balance the two. We certainly would love to win this one but finishing ahead on the last race of the year is probably a little more important."
 
All races will be live streamed and live results will be provided.
 
The Bears are coming off a successful outing at the ACC/Pac-12 Invitational where they swept all eight races, which included varsity eight, second varsity eight, varsity four and second varsity four wins over No. 8 Syracuse, No. 11 Virginia and No. 18 Oregon State.
 
Race Schedule (all times PST)
 
9:20 a.m. – 4V8+
9:40 a.m. – 3V8+
10 a.m. – V4+
10:20 a.m. – 2V8+
10:40 a.m. – V8+
 
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