GOLD RIVER, Calif. -   The Cal men's rowing finished second overall at the 2019 Pac-12 Championships on Sunday at Lake Natoma, earning the silver medal in every scoring race. 

"I'm proud of how the guys raced, especially in the varsity eight," said Cal head coach Scott Frandsen. "We made some really big strides in the last few weeks and now we have two more weeks before the national championship to continue that upward momentum."  

Racing in stormy conditions which announcers described as the worst at Lake Natoma in recent memory, the Bears started the day with a second-place finish in the varsity four. In the first scoring race of the day, the Bears came up just short in the varsity eight, edged by Washington by about three seats. After falling a length behind the Huskies at the 1000 meter mark, the Bears moved consistently through the second half of the race to draw within a seat with 150m to go before Washington rallied to  move away in the final push to the finish line.  It was the eighth straight year the varsity 8+ has come in either first or second place at the Pac-12 Championship. 

"The varsity led the charge for our program with a really gutsy performance," said Frandsen. "Washington got up on them early and they stayed together and stuck to the race plan and came within a seat or two with 10 or 15 strokes to go." 

The Bears also earned a silver in the second varsity eight. In the worst conditions of the day, Washington took an early lead but Cal held onto that margin through the middle of the race. Washington was able to cross the line ahead while Cal finished the race with several lengths of open-water ahead of third place Stanford. 

The same scenario played out in the third varsity eight, with Washington establishing a lead early and holding on to edge the Bears at the finish line with Stanford coming in a distant third place. 

As two of the top ranked teams in the country, it was no surprise that Cal and Washington's were so tightly contested. For most of the last 30 years, Cal and Washington have consistently finished in the top three at the national championships.

The Bears will be back in Lake Natoma for the 2019 Intercollegiate Rowing National Championship from May 31st to June 2nd and Cal will be looking to build on its third place finish at the 2018 IRA Championship.

For updates and information throughout the year, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalMRowing), Instagram (@CalMRowing), and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalMRowing).

Overall Team Standings 

School		Points
1.	Washington	72
2.	California	63
3.	Stanford	54
4.	Oregon State	45
5.	Washington State	38
6.	UCLA	37

Varsity Eight

1.	Washington	5:34.950
2.	California	5:36.217
3.	Stanford	5:56.913
4.	Oregon State	6:13.543
5.	UCLA	6:13.543
6.	Washington State	6:23.847

Cal Varsity Eight Lineup 
John Amorasana (cox)
George Finlayson
Marcin Pawlowski
Ferdinand Querfeld
Maarten Hurkmans
Joachim Sutton
Elliot Rogers
Jack Gosden-Kaye
Ollie Maclean (bow)

Second Varsity Eight

1.	Washington	6:05.059
2.	California	6:08.629
3.	Stanford	6:35.476
4.	Oregon State	6:36.566
5.	Washington State	7:06.726
6.	UCLA	7:27.836

Cal Second Varsity Eight Lineup 
Brett Cataldo (Cox)
Cam Smith
Ethan McCoach
Hunter Hodges
Christoph Seifriedsberger
Olav Molenaar
Jack Robertson
Hugo van de Graaf
Leon Ramm

Varsity Four

1.	Washington	6:18.298
2.	California	6:22.801
3.	Oregon State	7:00.634
4.	UCLA	7:07.704

Cal Varsity Four Lineup 
Andrew DiCandillo (Cox)
Mathis Heldbo
John Cecil
Kealan Hennessy
Fred Roper

Third Varsity Eight

1.	Washington	5:55.887
2.	California	6:03.224
3.	Stanford	6:35.119
4.	Oregon State	6.39.285
5.	UCLA	7:10.252

Cal Third Varsity Eight Lineup
Nathan Richards (Cox)
Alex Langstone-Bolt
Charlie Ryan
Elliot Kemp
Spencer Dettlinger
Jack Smith
Danny Jordan
Darcy McCluskey
Brett Vilk