SACRAMENTO – The No. 9 California women's rowing team had a strong finish on Sunday morning at the Big Ten Invitational at Lake Natoma, with the Golden Bears' varsity eight posting a runner-up finish in its flight behind No. 1 Stanford. Cal finished the course in 6:12.222 to notch its second V8+ win over the Huskies of the weekend after outdistancing Washington in its flight yesterday.
 
Cal had three boats finish in third place behind the Cardinal and the Huskies. First, the second varsity four had a time of 7:11.035 – which was under three seconds behind Washington – before the second varsity eight finished the course about five seconds behind the Huskies to take third place with a time of 6:23.943. Cal outdistanced No. 12 Rutgers and No. 17 Michigan in each race.
 
It was a photo-finish in the third varsity eight race, with Washington edging the Bears by a fraction of a second, finishing the course in 6:45.149 ahead of Cal with a 6:45.189 time. Stanford won the flight with a time of 6:33.801.
 
The Bears had a trio of fourth-place finishes, with the varsity four finishing the course in 7:08.351 behind Stanford, Washington and Rutgers and the third varsity four finishing in 7:31.837 behind the same opponents. Cal's fourth varsity eight took fourth place behind the Huskies, Scarlet Knights and Wolverines with a time of 7:07.458.
 
Sunday's results capped a solid outing for the Bears across the whole weekend, with Cal sweeping its flights in the morning session against No. 23 Indiana, Minnesota and Washington State on Saturday. The Bears' V8+ and 3V8+ also recorded flight wins in their Day 1 afternoon sessions. The varsity eight outdistanced Washington, No. 20 UCLA, and Notre Dame, while the third varsity eight defeated the Wolverines, Huskies and Bruins.

"It was a fantastic weekend of racing all around," Cal head coach Al Acosta said. "We're grateful that we were able to go head-to-head with every team in the Big Ten in our own backyard. Our crews all shined at different times during the event. There was no daylight between our 3V8+ and Washington's 3V8+ for two races. We got them on Saturday with an amazing sprint in the last 400 meters, and the Sunday margin was a photo-finish in favor of UW. Our 2V8+ inched closer and closer to the Huskies and it was great to see our V8+ put their bow ball ahead of Washington on Saturday and Sunday. I'm really proud of this team. We brought a lot of good energy to each race and consistently raced hard all the way down the track." 
 
NEXT UP
Cal will return to Berkeley to prepare for The Big Row on May 2 in Redwood Shores in what will be the Bears' regular-season finale.
 
RESULTS
V8+
1. Stanford – 6:08.982
2. California – 6:12.222
3. Washington – 6:13.627
4. Rutgers – 6:23.257
5. Michigan – 6:26.754
 
2V8+
1. Stanford – 6:12.228
2. Washington – 6:18.431
3. California – 6:23.943
4. Rutgers – 6:27.791
5. Michigan – 6:32.456
 
V4+
1. Stanford – 6:59.848
2. Washington – 7:02.393
3. Rutgers – 7:04.253
4. California – 7:08.351
5. Michigan – 7:09.926
 
2V4+
1. Stanford – 6:58.715
2. Washington – 7:08.380
3. California – 7:11.035
4. Rutgers – 7:14.287
5. Michigan – 7:25.855
 
3V4+
1. Washington – 7:13.842
2. Stanford – 7:24.042
3. Rutgers – 7:27.905
4. California – 7:31.837
5. Michigan – 7:33.295
 
3V8+
1. Stanford – 6:33.801
2. Washington – 6:45.149
3. California – 6:45.189
4. Michigan – 6:52.589
5. Rutgers – 6:52.591
 
4V8+
1. Washington – 6:48.590
2. Rutgers – 6:57.990
3. Michigan – 6:59.943
4. California – 6:59.943
 
LINEUPS
V8+
Coxswain- Kira Obsitnik
8. Olivia Roth
7. Madeline Cox
6. Julia Irmler 
5. Ella Wheeler
4. Star Rose Miller
3. Lily Abbott
2. Minou Bouman
1. Lotta van Westreenen
 
2V8+
Coxswain - Emily Kendall
8. Vittoria Pastorelli
7. Allegra O'Sullivan
6. Giulia Bosio
5. Bonnie Mollee
4. Zara Hoadley
3. Lola Crampin
2. Alexandra (Alex) Pearson
1. Charlotte Johnson
 
V4+
Coxswain - Julia Fullington
4. Vivi Spitz 
3. Annie Brown
2. Lily Pember 
1. Chloe Frushtick
 
2V4+
Coxswain – Samantha Jaffe
4. Francesca Hammerer
3. Pippa Jamieson
2. Alexandra Ausfahl 
1. Kylie Landers
 
3V4+ 
Coxswain - Saira Mitchell 
4. Claire Banks 
3. Harriet Cheetham
2. Gabrielle Jennings
1. Charlotte Hill
 
3V8+
Coxswain – Chloe Milz 
8. Frieda Cramer 
7. Sophia Turner 
6. Isabella (Bella) Laddy 
5. Eve Barrancotto 
4. Beatrice Knight 
3. Kate Nixon
2. Louisa Molloy
1. Kylee Harrington
 
4V8+
Coxswain - Sofia Filice 
8. Ava Brooks 
7. Maile Nelson
6. Amalia Campbell
5. Campbell (Cami) Lovell 
4. Rachel Furtaw 
3. Sidney Curven
2. Ava Andrews
1. Alice Gallo
 
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal women's rowing, follow the Bears on Instagram (@calwrowing) and Facebook (Cal Crew).