May 31, 2008

Complete Results at JamcoTimes.com

GOLD RIVER, Calif. - The California varsity four won its repechage in a photo finish and the Golden Bears qualified all three of its boats for grand finals on Saturday morning at the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships on Lake Natoma. Cal is one of three teams, including Brown and Washington, to put boats in all three Division I grand finals. The top-ranked Cal varsity eight, which came into the national regatta unbeaten, took second place in its semifinal to reach Sunday's grand final, while the Bears also finished second in the second varsity eight repechage to qualify for that grand final.

"That's the first step - get in the grand finals," Cal head coach Dave O'Neill said. "And I've said for years that the Saturday day of finals is the most stressful day of the year, because if you don't get in the grand final, in some ways you're out of it. Everyone got the job done with some pretty good racing for us, but we have to do better tomorrow."

In the first varsity eight semifinal, which opened Saturday's racing, Cal faced third-ranked Yale for the first time this season and lost its first race of the season to the Ivy League power, 6:35.16-6:38.66. Stanford was third in 6:39.93. The top three teams in each semifinal, including No. 2 Brown, No. 14 Washington and No. 6 Michigan State, which finished 1-2-3 in the second semi, qualified for the grand final.

"They got beat by a very good Yale crew today," O'Neill said. "That Yale crew is really strong and really powerful, and we were rowing into a head wind. The goal was to get all three boats into the grand finals, and we did that."

In a bit of an upset, fourth-ranked Virginia, which pushed Cal in Friday's heats, finished fourth behind the Spartans in their semi and did not qualify for the varsity eight grand final.

Cal's varsity four trailed Brown much of the way and got a scare from Ohio State before coming on strong late. In the most exciting race of the morning, the Golden Bears edged the Brown Bears by .15 seconds, 7:32.06-7:32.21. Both teams qualified for the grand final.

The Bears' varsity four was the only one of the three Cal boats that changed its lineup from the Pac-10 Rowing Championships, with sophomore Laurel Kuhn entering the lineup for an ill Emmie Koenig. The latter, a junior rower, was a member of Cal's second-place varsity four at the conference regatta. Also, Cal junior Melissa Herman, a veteran of this year's varsity four, switched from port to starboard in the boat.

"Our varsity four has never had the same lineup for any race all year long," O'Neill said. "In watching Pac-10s and seeing Washington's four, we said, `Okay, we have to get faster. Let's open things up and see what's going on.' Someone from our second four stepped into the varsity four and took off, and then we had an illness...[Herman] is someone who can elevate to that extra gear in the last 250 meters, and that certainly came in handy today."

The Bears' second varsity eight put together a solid race to finish behind Virginia by 1.04 seconds, 6:47.83-6:48.87. The top two teams in each second varsity eight repechage reached the grand final.

On Sunday, Cal competes first in the varsity four grand final at 10:15 a.m., then in the second varsity eight grand final at 10:45 a.m. and in the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships' marquee event, the Division I varsity eight grand final, at 11:30 a.m.

Also on Saturday at Lake Natoma, the Williams Ephs won their fourth team title since the inception of the Division III NCAA championship in 2002. The Trinity Bantams won the Division III varsity eight crown and finished second in the team standings.

NCAA Women's Rowing Championships

Saturday's Division I Races

Varsity Eight

Semifinal 1: 1. Yale 6:35.16. 2. California 6:38.66. 3. Stanford 6:39.93.

Cal's Varsity Eight: Coxswain - Krista Ellis. Stroke - Candice Rediger. 7 - Mara Allen. 6 - Elena Humphreys. 5 - Taryn O'Connell. 4 - Mary Jeghers. 3 - Onna Poeter. 2 - Lou Kinder. Bow - Ali Seders.

Semifinal 2: 1. Brown 6:34.93. 2. Washington 6:36.37. 3. Michigan State 6:36.64.

Bold - Qualified for Sunday's Grand Final
Italics - Reached Sunday's Petite Final

Second Varsity Eight

Repechage 1: 1. Virginia 6:47.83. 2. California 6:48.87.

Cal's Second Varsity Eight: Coxswain - Katy Milton. Stroke - Adrienne Keller. 7 - Summer Ohlendorf. 6 - Kaiti Seders. 5 - Kirsten Campbell. 4 - Lauren Nowinski. 3 - Bridget Moran. 2 - Sam Silvia. Bow - Maggie Devine.

Repechage 2: 1. Washington 6:49.28. 2. Tennessee 6;51.84. 3. Wisconsin 6:55.90. 4. Michigan State 7:02.08. 5. Princeton 7:09.32.

Bold - Qualified for Sunday's Grand Final
Italics - Reached Sunday's Petite Final

Varsity Four

Repechage 1: 1. Michigan State 7:33.77. 2. Yale 7:38.04.

Repechage 2: 1. California 7:32.06. 2. Brown 7:32.21. 3. Ohio State 7:38.58. 4. Wisconsin 7:52.25. 5. Harvard 8:04.84.

Cal Varsity Four: Coxswain - Jill Costello. Stroke - Melissa Herman. 3 - Sam Sartor. 2 - Kelsey Bates. Bow - Laurel Kuhn.

Bold - Qualified for Sunday's Grand Final
Italics - Reached Sunday's Petite Final

Sunday's Division I Grand Final Draws

Varsity Four

10:15 a.m.: Lane 1 - Washington. Lane 2 - Virginia. Lane 3 - Michigan State. Lane 4 - California. Lane 5 - Brown. Lane 6 - Yale.

Second Varsity Eight

10:45 a.m.: Lane 1 - Ohio State. Lane 2 - Brown. Lane 3 - Washington. Lane 4 - Virginia. Lane 5 - Tennessee. Lane 6 - California.

Varsity Eight

11:30 a.m.: Lane 1 - Yale. Lane 2 -Brown. Lane 3 - California. Lane 4 - Washington. Lane 5 - Michigan State. Lane 6 - Stanford.