Badgers Complete Crew Classic Weekend
April 02, 2006 | Women's Rowing
Wisconsin's women placed fifth, sixth and eighth in racing during the final day of the San Diego Crew Classic, Sunday at Crown Point Shores Park at Mission Bay in San Diego, Calif. Wisconsin competed against some of the top teams in the country throughout the two-day event.
In the varsity eight, No. 9 Wisconsin placed sixth in the Jessop-Whittier Cup grand final. No. 2 California won in 6:52.10, with No. 8 USC second in 6:54.29. No. 11 Washington State, Notre Dame and No. 15 UCLA also bested Wisconsin, which clocked a 7:05.81.
California also took the Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy for winning the second varsity eight grand final. The Golden Bears won in 6:52.10, ahead of Washington State in 6:55.42. Stanford and USC also came in ahead of Wisconsin in the grand final. Wisconsin timed a 7:01.23 for fifth place.
'We had both boats in the grand final, but we didn 't finish quite as strong as we would have liked,' commented head coach Bebe Bryans. 'Great competition though and great racing experience for us and we look forward using what we learned to get better. We'll see most of these crews again at some point during the season and we look forward to having another go.'
Wisconsin sent its lightweight varsity eight to San Diego to compete as well. Racing in the Women's Cal Cup petite final, an opewnweight event, the No. 1-ranked lightweights came in eighth overall, but second in the petite final in 6:52.91. St. Mary's won the petite final in 6:51.00. Miami took the grand final to win the event.
'The lightweights had another really good day of racing, ' said Bryans. 'They've got some speed there and some speed there to find. It was a pretty successful weekend for them and I know lightweight coach Mary Shofner is happy with their performance.'
Wisconsin's women return to the water next weekend. On April 8, the Badger openweights travel to Indianapolis to compete against Notre Dame and Indiana on Lake Lemon, while the lightweights visit Camden, N.J., for the Knecht Cup on April 8-9 on the Cooper River.
