PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The No. 9 California Golden Bears women's rowing team finished in eighth place with 89 points at the NCAA Championships at Cooper River Park on Sunday morning with the varsity four capturing a win in its Petite Final. The second varsity eight finished third in the team's sole Grand Final appearance while the varsity eight came in sixth in its Petite Final. The Bears have now finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Championships for the 24th straight year.
 
"Two of our three races today were exceptional," Cal head coach Al Acosta said. "Unfortunately, we needed all three performances to get to where we ultimately wanted to go. The second varsity eight and varsity four clearly had their best and gutsiest races of the year. It's a young group with only four rowers graduating from this championship squad. Hopefully, this team can celebrate our successes from this year's eighth place finish and learn the important lessons from what we didn't get right. We're very proud of this team and what they represent. We couldn't be more excited about what's possible next year."
 
In the varsity four Petite Final, Cal got off to a strong start and took an early lead in the opening first few hundred meters and built a half-boat lead by the 500-meter mark. The Bears maintained their lead at the halfway mark, but Michigan and Washington  were able to walk down a couple seats over the third 500 meters. Cal used a strong surge to extend its lead to almost a full boat length over Washington over the closing 500 meters to cruise to the win in a time of 07:20.821.
 
In the second varsity eight Grand Final, it was a tight race early on as no team was able to take a notable lead in the opening few hundred meters. By the 500-meter mark Cal was even with Yale and Princeton in front of the pack. At the 1,000-meter mark the Bears were in third place just a few seats behind Stanford. Cal made a move and walked down a couple seats on Washington and Stanford in the closing 500 meters but was unable to complete the comeback finishing just three seconds behind Stanford in third place with a time of 06:27.539.
 
In the varsity eight Petite Final, it was a close race as only a few seats separated each boat in the opening few hundred meters. By the 500-meter mark, Cal trailed leader Syracuse by just a half-length. At the halfway mark, the Bears trailed behind Syracuse by a full length but stayed connected with the rest of the pack. The Bears were unable to make a move in the closing 500 meters and finished in sixth place with a time of 06:38.554.
 
Results
 
V8+ Petite Final
1. SMU - 06:29.600
2. Syracuse - 06:31.376
3. Michigan - 06:33.818
4. Brown - 06:34.026
5. Virginia - 06:34.030
6. California - 06:38.554
 
2V8+ Grand Final
1. Stanford - 06:24.85
2. Washington - 06:26.177
3. California - 06:27.539
4. Yale - 06:27.779
5. Princeton - 06:32.031
6. Texas - 06:34.439
 
V4+ Petite Final
1. California - 07:20.821
2. Washington - 07:23.187
3. Michigan - 07:23.781
4. SMU - 07:26.285
5. Duke - 07:28.979
6. Ohio St - 07:29.421
 
Lineups
V8
Coxswain: Kaitlyn Turner
Stroke: Giulia Bosio
7: Jane Perrignon
6: Sophie Ward
5: Issy Cassidy
4: Star Rose Miller
3: Antonia Galland
2: Fien van Westreenen
Bow: Della Luke
 
2V8
Coxswain: Piper Melnick
Stroke: Minou Bouman
7: Lotta van Westreenen
6: Julia Hunt-Davis
5: Amy Furlonger
4: Nicole Weber
3: Annabel Oertel
2: Angela Szabo
Bow: Sophie Faliero
 
V4+
Coxswain: Charley Griffiths
4: Megan Culbert
3: Miya Meskis
2: Ella Berger
1: Katie McDermott
 
STAY POSTED
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