REDWOOD SHORES – The No. 1 California men's rowing team faced its toughest competition this season in No. 3 Brown and came away unscathed to close out competition at the Redwood Shores Challenge at the Redwood Shores on Sunday Morning. The Golden Bears' V8+, 2V8+ and freshmen 8+ swept Brown while the 3V8+ defeated Yale's 2V8+.
 
In the first race of the day between Cal's 3V8+ and Yale's 2V8+, it was fairly even after the first 20 strokes and both teams were neck and neck after 500 meters. Yale took a three-seat lead over the second 500 meters. The Bears made a push and pulled back even and then pulled ahead by three seats over the third 500 meters. Cal kept its lead for the remainder of the race to edge out the Bulldogs by two seconds in a time of 5:39.3.
 
In the V8+ matchup against Brown, Cal took a three-seat lead after 500 meters and increased it to nearly bow to stern by the halfway point. Brown was able to stay connected within a few seats of open water over the second half of the race but was unable to cut into the deficit any further and the Golden Bears won in a time of 5:31.8 – the fastest time of the weekend.
 
In the 2V8+ duel, Cal went ahead by a half of a boat after 500 meters and kept pulling away to take a lead of a few seats of open water after the bridge at the halfway mark. The Bears didn't allow Brown to make up any ground and cruised to the win in a time of 5:37.8.
 
The final race of the day featured Cal's freshmen 8+ going up against Brown's 3V8+. Cal took a two-seat lead after 250 meters and extended it to half boat after 500 meters. The Bears were ahead by a few seats of open water after the 1,000-meter mark and kept that lead for the second half of the race to easily win in a time of 5:43.5.
 
"What a great weekend of racing and I'm really happy that Yale, Brown and Syracuse were able to make the trip," Cal head coach Scott Frandsen said. "It's really competitive racing across all of our programs, so I think there's a lot of value in that for all of our programs for the middle of April. We had some good races against Yale, the CRC (California Rowing Club), and then Brown, with our lower boats having really outstanding races. Each race that's come at us has been a little bit more challenging and I think the guys have all met those challenges for the most part really well. The spring season is a long one and we're still figuring out lineups and figuring out what we want to do but a lot was learned from the weekend. All of it will prepare us well for that next step towards the IRA which is the dual against Washington in two weeks."
 
NEXT UP
Cal heads on the road to compete in the Washington duel at the Montlake Cut in Seattle on April 26.
 
Sunday Results
 
V8+
Cal – 5:31.8
Brown – 5:34.5
 
2V8+
Cal – 5:37.8
Brown – 5:41.4
 
3V8+
Cal – 5:39.3
Yale 2V8+ - 5:41.1
 
Freshmen 8+
Cal – 5:43.5
Brown 3V8+ - 5:47.6
 
Saturday AM Results
 
V8+
Cal – 5:59.2
Yale – 6:09.5
 
2V8+
Yale – 6:05.2
Cal – 6:10.4
 
3V8+
Cal – 6:06.8
Brown – 6:19.1
 
Freshmen 8+
Cal – 6:06.3
Syracuse 2V8+ - 6:10.4
 
Saturday PM Results
 
V8+
CA Rowing Club – 5:56.3
Cal – 5:56.6
 
2V8+ vs Freshmen 8+
2V8+ - 6:10.4
Freshmen 8+ - 6:21.9
 
3V8+
Cal – 6:16.6
Brown – 6:19.7
 
Sunday Lineups
 
V8+
Coxswain – Iliad Izadi
8. Frederik Breuer
7. Angus Dawson
6. Tobias Kristensen
5. Tim Roth
4. Gennaro di Mauro
3. Pablo Moreno
2. Alexander Baroni
1. Wilson Morton
 
2V8+
Coxswain – Anna O'Reilly
8. Dan Bradbery
7. Harry Manton
6. Rory Menzies
5. Maximilian Pfautsch
4. Thomas Heerding
3. Matthew Waddell
2. Noah Anger
1. Jeremy Beale
 
3V8+
Coxswain – Ethan Nghiem
8. Travis Jorgensen
7. Antonio Distefano
6. Leonard Brahms
5. Evan Gold
4. Nemanja Luledzija
3. Tomba Morreau
2. Robbie Prosser
1. Henry Furrer
 
Freshmen 8+
Coxswain – Jake Bazulto
8. Osian James
7. Nat Gauden
6. Xavier Gagnon
5. James O'Meara
4. Andreas Simoni
3. Johannes Benien
2. Guy Ferrera
1. Leo Shetler
 
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