No. 9 Bears Have Successful Opening Day At NCAAs

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The No. 9 California Golden Bears women’s rowing team capped off a successful opening day at the NCAA Championships at the Cooper River Park Friday morning as the first and second varsity eights along with the varsity four all qualified for the A/B semifinals on Saturday by placing within the top three places of their individual heats.
 
“The team got off to a good start today,” Cal head coach Al Acosta said.  “Across the board each boat handled whatever was thrown at them and did what they needed to do to get to the A/B semis. Of course, tomorrow will be a bigger challenge, but we’re confident that each boat has another gear and that they can all go faster.”
 
The varsity eight kicked things off in the third heat. The Bears had a good start and stayed with the lead pack that included Stanford and Brown. The Cardinal took an open-water lead by the halfway mark while Cal and Brown stayed even with each other. Heading into the last 500 meters, the Bears were able to take two seats over Brown, slightly increase their lead in the closing stages and finish half a length ahead to easily finish in second place with a time of 6:35.995.
 
In the second varsity eight, the Bears got out with the leading pack of Princeton and SMU in the start with Cal just a couple seats back of Princeton. Cal built an open-water lead ahead of SMU to take a solid hold of second place and was a half boat behind Princeton by the halfway mark. The Bears stayed connected with Princeton through 1,500 meters. Cal finished strong and walked back a couple seats on Princeton, finishing just two seconds behind the Tigers in a time of 06:44.614.
 
In the varsity four, the Bears had a slight lead in the opening few hundred meters, just ahead of Texas by two seats. The Longhorns walked back two seats and took a slight lead at the halfway mark. The Bears had open water between them and Duke and the rest of the field over the last 1,000 meters to take a firm grasp on the second-place position. Cal cruised into a second-place finish in a time of 07:35.036.
 
Cal will return to the water Saturday morning with the A/B semifinals. The top three finishers from each heat will advance to Sunday’s Grand Final. The remaining boats row in the Petite Final. The V8+ will once again lead things off for the Bears, racing at 8:36 a.m. EDT. All three races will be streamed live at NCAA.com here.
 
Results
 
V8+ Heat 3
1. Stanford – 06:26.549
2. California – 06:35.995
3. Brown – 06:38.953
4. Ohio St – 06:42.127
5. Gonzaga – 07:06.187
6. Jacksonville – 07:24.581
 
2V8+ Heat 2
1. Princeton – 06:42.894
2. California – 06:44.614
3. SMU – 06:51.644
4. Rutgers – 07:00.104
5. Northeastern – 07:20.920
 
V4+ Heat 1
1. Texas – 07:25.980
2. California – 07:35.036
3. Duke – 07:40.510
4. Rutgers – 07:42.334
5. Indiana – 07:50.144
 
Saturday Schedule – A/B Semifinals (all times EDT)
 
V8+
Semifinal 1 – 8:36 a.m.
Lanes 1-6: SMU, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Texas, Cal (5), Syracuse
 
2V8+
Semifinal 1 – 9:24 a.m.
Lanes 1-6: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Yale, Stanford, Cal (5), Ohio State
 
V4+
Semifinal 1 – 10:12 a.m.
Lanes 1-6: Ohio State, Cal (2), Stanford, Yale, Brown, SMU
 
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