REDWOOD CITY – The No. 2 California men's rowing team swept the Big Row versus No. 5 Stanford on Saturday morning at Redwood Shores to close out its regular-season competition. The Golden Bears' first through third varsity eights notched wins over the Cardinal in the annual showdown between the school rivals, making it the 12th-consecutive year that Cal has come out on top at the dual.
 
Cal's third varsity eight got the racing off to a solid start with a nearly 14-second margin of victory in the team's first race of the morning. The Bears pulled out to a strong lead at the opening and maintained it down the stretch, finishing the course in 5:58.1 ahead of Stanford, which had a final time of 6:12.5.
 
The competition began to heat up in the race of the second varsity eights, with only three seconds separating the two crews in the end. Cal took an early lead and held it solidly through the first 1000 meters. Stanford made a move in the third quarter of the race to try and close the gap, but the Bears held the Cardinal off and clinched the race win with a final time of 5:55.7, ahead of Stanford which finished in 5:58.8.
 
Cal's top varsity eight also took the lead from the jump and refused to relinquish it as it moved down the course. The Bears maintained their position as the race evolved, doing well to fend off a push from the Cardinal and finishing in 5:49.8 with Stanford trailing in 5:52.6.
 
"The goals of all of our regular-season races are to win and to learn from them – and I think we accomplished both of those goals today," Cal head coach Scott Frandsen said. "We had to reshuffle some things and test out some new lineups today, and I think that went fairly well. It's a good indication of the depth of our squad, when we can make last-minute adjustments and have it all click and come together in the race. There's lots to learn from these races, and we now have some things we can figure out in the next two weeks leading up to the MPSF championships."
 
Cal will now turn its focus to the postseason, first looking to defend its MPSF Championship title on May 16-17 on Lake Natoma in Sacramento before setting its sights on the IRA Championships on May 29-31 at the same venue.
 
RESULTS
V8+
1. California – 5:49.8
2. Stanford – 5:52.6
 
2V8+
1. California – 5:55.7
2. Stanford – 5:58.8
 
3V8+
1. California – 5:58.1
2. Stanford – 6:12.5
 
LINEUPS
V8+
Coxswain: Michael Kain
8. Nemanja Luledzija
7. Tobias Kristensen
6. Pablo Moreno
5. Alexander Baroni
4. Rory Menzies
3. Noah Anger
2. Maximilian Pfautsch
1. Tom O'Sullivan
 
2V8+
Coxswain: Ethan Nghiem
8. Leo Rosenquist
7. Eddie Bayfield
6. Osian James
5. Matthew Waddell
4. Xavier Gagnon
3. Josh Knight
2. Tim Roth
1. Jeremy Beale
 
3V8+
Coxswain: Austin Chen
8. Mihajlo Dedic
7. Flynn English
6. Dan Bradbery
5. Nat Gauden
4. Evan Gold
3. Leo Shetler
2. Thomas Heerding
1. James O'Meara
 
STAY POSTED
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