No. 2 Cal Sweeps No. 11 Stanford To Capture Big Row

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. – Second-ranked California men’s crew swept No. 11 Stanford, winning the varsity eight, second varsity eight and freshman eight races to capture the Big Row Saturday at Redwood Shores, Calif.

With Saturday’s varsity eight win, the Golden Bears have captured the Schwabacher Cup five of the last six years and 22 of the last 24 years overall. Cal’s varsity eight raced down the course in 5:43.2 to win by open water of Stanford (5:53.0).

“All these races are big,” said California head men’s crew coach Mike Teti. “We had a tight race with Washington last week and you are looking to improve week-by-week. You want to be ascending heading into the championships and this is a big step. The significance of this race is about Jill Costello. We dedicate this race to her and we want to make sure we have a good performance and I think all our boats did today.”

In the second varsity eight, the Bears raced out to the early lead and finished with the open-water victory in 5:55.4 to Stanford’s 6:26.1.

In the men’s first race of the day, Cal defeated Stanford in the freshman eight, with a time of 5:54.6 to Stanford’s 6:03.7.

“We want all our boats to row a solid race from start to finish,” Teti continued. “We are looking for them to row a complete piece. I think all three boats executed pretty well today.

Cal’s varsity eight has recorded wins in six of its seven races so far this season, winning a pair of races to capture the Copley Cup at the season-opening San Diego Crew Classic against Stanford, Northeastern, Syracuse, George Washington and British Columbia, earning dual wins against No. 12 Wisconsin and No. 16 Oregon State in the Stanford Invitational two weeks ago, and posting the victory over Stanford this weekend.

Cal returns to action on Sunday, May 18, at the Pac-12 Rowing Championships at Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif.