May 30, 2000
This Week: Thur.-Sat. June 1-3, IRA Championships, Camden, NJ, All Day
Racing at the IRAs: The No. 1-ranked Cal men's varsity eight will challenge for the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship, June 1-3, at the IRA Regatta on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, NJ, located just outside Camden. Cal enters the regatta undefeated on the year and ranked No.1 in USRowing Coaches Poll.
Racing Format: Racing at the IRA consists of heats, repechage (second chance), semifinals, and finals. The repechage race assures that the three fastest crews advance to the semifinal round. The winners of each four heats advance to the semifinal round while the remaining crews are reassigned to repechage races. The top two finishers in each rep also advance to the semifinals rounding out the 12 crew field. The top three crews in each semifinal make up the six crews in the grand final. The varsity and frosh eights will qualify for the final under this system. Due to the number of entrants in the JV event, the semifinal round may not be needed. If there is no semifinals, winners of the three heats will advance directly to the final and be joined by the winners of each of three repechage heats.
Tentitive Racing Schedule
Thursday, June 1, 2000
Morning - Trial Heats
7:36 - 8:12 Men's Varsity Eights
8:24 - 9:00 Men's Freshman Eights
10:12 - 10:36 Men's Second Varsity Eights
Afternoon - Repechage Heats
3:48 - 4:24 Men's Freshman Eights
5:24 - 6:00 Men's Varsity Eights
Friday, June 2, 2000
Morning - Repechage Heats
11:00 - 11:24 Men's Second Varsity Eights
Afternoon - Semifinal Heats
3:36 - 4:12 Men's Freshman Eights
4:24 - 5:00 Men's Varsity Eights
Saturday, June 3, 2000
Afternoon - Finals
1:30 - 1:45 Men's Freshman Eights Petite and Championship
2:00 - 2:15 Men's Second Varsity Eights Petite and Championship
3:30 - 4:00 Men's Varsity Eights 3rd Level, Petite, and Championship
Cal Varsity Eight:
Coming off an undefeated Pac-10 and IRA National Championship season in 1999, the Y2K edition of the Cal varsity eight has a very different look. Only two oarsmen, Luke Walton and Graham Taylor, and coxswain Mike Lennig return from the 1999 varsity. The addition of Eric Tiret and Jeremiah Dees from Cal's '99 undefeated national champion JV crew, Scott Frandsen and Christopher Kennelly from Cal's '99 Pac-10 Champion freshman crew and newcomers, Mladen Stegic and Filip Filipic have the Bears back at No. 1 and on ready to defend their Pac-10 and IRA varsity titles.
No. 1-ranked Cal is undefeated on the year with victory in the Copley Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic, along with dual race wins over Washington and Stanford to their credit. Most Recently at the Pac-10 Championships, the Bears won their third consecutive varsity Pac-10 title. The last time Cal had strung together three consecutive varsity Pac-10/Pacific Coast titles was 1927-29. The varsity's championship capped Cal's third consecutive sweep of men's frosh, JV and varsity eights competition Pac-10 Championships--a feat never before accomplished in the 132 year history of Cal men's crew.
About the Competition: The No. 1 Bears varsity eight will square off against the fastest crews in the country this weekend at the IRA. Early favorites include both the Pac-10 champion Cal and Eastern Sprints champion No. 2 Brown, which is the only other undefeated varsity crew in the country. Other crews expected advance to the grand final include Pac-10 runner-up No. 3 Washington, Eastern Sprints runner-up No. 4 Princeton, as well as No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 7 Dartmouth.
Cal's IRA Championship History: The Bears have a strong history of racing at the IRA. Over the years, Cal's varsity has accumulated 11 golds, 6 silver, and 6 bronze medals, including its national championship in 1999. Head coach Steve Gladstone has two Cal IRA championships to his credit (seven overall). Along with 1999's crown, in his first coaching stint with the Bears, Gladstone directed his 1976 crew to an IRA win. Bear JV crews have earned 5 golds, 11 silvers, and 9 bronze medals, the last coming in 1999, while Cal frosh crews have 3 golds, 8 silvers, and a bronze.
USRowing/CRCA Coaches Poll : The Cal men's varsity eight garnered 14 of 15 first-place votes in latest USRowing Coaches poll release May 24.
Rank Team (1st Place votes) Points Prev. Rank
1. California(14) 299 1
2. Brown (1) 283 2
3. Washington 267 3
4. Princeton 260 5
5. Wisconsin 241 6
6. Harvard 225 4
7. Dartmouth 206 9
8. Pennsylvania 189 8
9. Northeastern 186 7
10. Yale 161 15
11. Columbia 140 11
12. Cornell 129 12
13. Temple 121 13
14. Navy 115 10
15. Syracuse 80 14
16. Oregon State 75 16
17. Dowling College 55 18t
18. Boston University 45 17
19. Virginia 40 18t
20. Rutgers 12 20
About Head Coach Steve Gladstone:
Regarded as one of the premier coaches in the United States, Steve Gladstone enters his fourth year in his second stint as head coach of the Golden Bears. In 1999, Gladstone, who also coached at Cal from 1972-80, guided the Bears to their best season since a 1948 Olympic gold medal. Cal men's crews swept the Pac-10 championships before the varsity and JV eights completed undefeated seasons winning Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championship titles with the freshman eight finishing second. Gladstone was recognized with Pac-10 Men's Rowing Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive season in `99. During his previous tenure at Cal from 1972-80, Gladstone led the Bears to three undefeated dual race seasons, an IRA title and a Pac-10 championship. Gladstone served as the Director of Rowing Operations at Brown University from 1981-94. During his time at Brown, Gladstone's crews amassed four Eastern Sprints championships, five IRA championships and two National Collegiate Rowing championship titles. Gladstone is the winningest active coach in IRA Varsity Challenge Cup competition with seven titles to credit and ranks second all-time, behind Charles "Pop" Courtney who won 11 IRAs at Cornell Between 1901-1915.
Cal Varsity Eight:
MV8 C Michael Lennig 5-11 125 Senior San Francisco, CA Saint Ignatius
MV8 8 Luke Walton 6-3 185 Junior Poway, CA Poway
MV8 7 Scott Frandsen 6-2 180 Sophomore Kelowna, CAN Brentwood
MV8 6 Eric Tiret 6-3 195 Junior San Francisco, CA Saint Ignatius
MV8 5 Mladen Stegic 6-4 180 Freshman Belgrade, YUG Sveti Sava
MV8 4 Filip Filipic 6-3 186 Freshman Belgrade, YUG Ship Engineering Tech
MV8 3 Jeremiah Dees 6-5 200 Senior San Ramon, CA California
MV8 2 Christopher Kennelly 6-3 188 Sophomore Piedmont, CA Piedmont
MV8 1 Graham Taylor 6-5 195 Senior Portland, OR Sunset
Cal JV Eight:
MJV8 C Franco Arieta 5-10 124 Junior Daly City, CA Saint Ignatius
MJV8 8 Andreja Stevanovic 6-4 205 Senior Belgrade, YUG Third Belgrade Grammar
MJV8 7 Zachery Salwasser 6-7 225 Sophomore Arlington, MA Rutgers Univ.
MJV8 6 Mike Maloney 6-4 205 Sophomore Phippsburg, ME Phillips Exeter Academy
MJV8 5 Jason Boyle 6-4 205 Senior San Jose, CA Independence
MJV8 4 Jack Nunn 6-3 205 Junior Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Mary Star
MJV8 3 Rick Britton 6-2 180 Sophomore San Diego, CA La Jolla
MJV8 2 Rudy Baxter-Warman 6-1 190 Freshman London, ENG St. Paul's
MJV8 1 Edward Hamilton 6-1 195 Senior Peterborough, ENG Redondo Union
Cal Frosh Eight:
MF8 C Jonathan Yee 5-4 118 Freshman San Mateo, CA Saint Ignatius
MF8 8 Matt Marucheck 6-6 200 Freshman San Francisco, CA Lowell
MF8 7 Michael Wallin 6-5 205 Freshman Philadelphia, PA St. Joe's Prep
MF8 6 Neil Armour 6-2 195 Freshman West Vancouver, CAN St. George's
MF8 5 John Whooley 6-4 194 Freshman Skibbereen, IRE St. Fachtna's De La Salle
MF8 4 Magnus Fleming 6-6 205 Freshman Eugene, OR So. Eugene
MF8 3 Robert Deppisch 6-4 200 Freshman Chicago, IL Salisbury
MF8 2 Paul O'Sullivan 6-3 198 Freshman Skibbereen, IRE St. Fachtna's De La Salle
MF8 1 Jeffrey Nalty 6-4 190 Freshman Sydney, AUS Leichhardt
