California Nearly Sweeps At The Head Of The American

BERKELEY -  The Bears competed in their first official race of the season and nearly swept all three races they competed in at the annual Head of the American regatta, which took place at Lake Natoma in Sacramento this past Saturday. Cal had eight boats in the Women's Collegiate 2-, three boats in the Women's Collegiate 8+ and four boats in the Women's Collegiate 4+.

"The team did a great job on Saturday," said head coach Al Acosta. "We raced as team Blue versus team Gold. The lineups, strategy, and all things related to rowing were totally driven by the athletes. As coaches and rowing fans it was great to see the team take ownership of the process and race hard."

The Bears took first and second place in the Collegiate 2- with times of 20:31.1 and 20:36.6 respectively. Cal's winning boat featured a duo of Annabel Oertel and Angela Szabo. The Bears remaining boats took the fourth, eighth, ninth, twelfth, thirteenth and eighteenth places.

In the Collegiate 8+, the Bears again took the top two places with times of 16:54.1 and 17:00.4 respectively and had three boats finish in the top four places. Cal's top two boats were led by Lily Wieland and Kaitlyn Turner.

In the Collegiate 4+, Cal's boat, led by Charley Griffiths, finished second behind Washington State with a time of 19:23.3. The Bears also had boats finish in fourth and fifth place overall.

The Bears next compete at the Head of the Lagoon at the Foster City Lagoon on Saturday, November 12.