SAN DIEGO – The No. 1 California Golden Bears men's rowing team continued where it left off with another dominating performance to close out the San Diego Crew Classic on Sunday morning, taking first place in all four races in which it competed, highlighted by the V8+ victory over Oxford Brookes and Rowing Canada in the Copley Cup.
 
"I'm happy with our first weekend of more serious racing getting into the spring season and putting the guys under a little bit of pressure, whether that's racing ourselves, or in the varsity racing going against Oxford Brookes and the Canadian eight," Cal head coach Scott Frandsen said. "I'm happy with how the results all went and probably more so happy with how the guys executed their races. Lots to learn from and lots to lots to improve upon over the next couple of weeks and months."
 
The Varsity 8+ crew opened the day in the Copley Cup grand final with a wire-to-wire win. Cal was able to move out consistently through the first 1,000 meters, breaking open water at the 1,100 meter mark and maintaining that lead through the final 500 meters to win by three quarters of a length over Oxford Brookes with a time of 5:46.776 to best its time from Saturday's prelims.
 
In the Sharp Memorial Cup grand final, it was essentially a race between Cal's 2V8+ and 3V8+ crews as both boats jumped out to a large lead over the first few hundred meters with over a boat of open water separating them from the next closest boat. It was a tight finish ,with the 2V8+ finishing first by less than a second in a time of 6:01.490 and the 3V8+ clocking in at 6:02.397 -  both besting their times from Saturday by almost 20 seconds.
 
The Freshman 8+ once again had a dominant performance in the Novice Derek Guelker Memorial Cup. In the grand final, the crew immediately jumped out to over a boat of open water lead and continued to grow its advantage over the course of the race to several boat lengths. Cal finished in first place with a time of 6:29.113.
 
Rounding out the day was the Anderson Borthwick Memorial Trophy grand final which featured Cal's 2V8+, 3V8+ and Freshman 8+ crews. Just like in Saturday's prelim race, the Cal trio dominated, jumping out to over a boat of open water lead in the beginning stages of the race. Halfway through the race, the 2V8+ built a solid lead with the 3V8+ and Freshman 8+ going neck and neck with each other. The 2V8+ crew finished first in 6:04.418, with the Freshman 8+ able to take second place in 6:09.187, followed by the 3V8+ which finished in 6:12.968. All three squads bested their times from Saturday.
 
"It was good to see the freshmen making progress and starting to put together a full race," Frandsen said. "They've had pieces of that but good to see them put together a whole race."
 
San Diego Crew Classic Final Results
 
V8+ Copley Cup Final
1. Cal V8+ – 5:46.776
2. Oxford Brookes – 5:48.456
3. Rowing Canada – 5:58.809
 
2V8+ Sharp Memorial Cup Final
1. Cal 2V8+ – 6:01.490
2. Cal 3V8+ – 6:02.397
3. UCSD – 6:22.050
4. Gonzaga – 6:24.992
5. UCSD B – 6:35.396
6. UCLA – 6:38.256
7. Purdue – 6:42.771
8. UC Davis – 7:41.200
 
Novice Derek Guelker Memorial Cup Final
1. Cal Freshman 8+ – 6:29.113
2. Orange Coast – 6:37.172
3. USC – 6:53.912
4. UC Davis – 6:55.663
5. UCLA – 7:00.738
6. UCSB – 7:31.258
7. Colorado – 7:49.577
 
Open 8+ Anderson Borthwick Memorial Trophy Final
1. Cal 2V8+ – 6:04.418
2. Cal Freshman 8+ – 6:09.187
3. Cal 3V8+ – 6:12.968
4. Riverside – 6:35.388
5. UCSB – 7:05.416
 
San Diego Crew Classic Lineups
V8+
Coxswain: Luca Vieira
8. Iwan Hadfield
7. Angus Dawson
6. Tim Roth
5. Ollie Maclean
4. Gennaro di Mauro
3. Gus Rodriguez
2. Frederik Breuer
Bow Seat:  Campbell Crouch
 
2V8+
Coxswain: Grant Fisher
8. Tommy Barrell
7. Elliott Kemp
6. Tobias Kristensen
5. Fred Roper
4. Balthasar Issa
3. Harry Manton
2. Tyler Kurth
Bow Seat:  Wilson Morton
 
3V8+
Coxswain: Savannah Adamo
8. Marcus Cameron
7. Christian Tabash
6. Guy Ferrera
5. Matthew Gallagher
4. Bret Holt
3. Dane Halkiw
2. Daton Wolfaardt
Bow Seat: Josh Anderson
 
Freshman 8+
Coxswain: Ethan Nghiem
8. Dan Bradbery
7. Keith Ryan
6. Alexander Baroni
5. Pablo Moreno
4. Thomas Heerding
3. Luciano Andreuccetti
2. Brody Bottomley
Bow Seat: Matthew Waddell
 
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