SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The varsity eight of UC San Diego men's crew, as part of four-boat pack finishing within a half a second of each other, placed fifth in their San Diego Crew Classic petite final Sunday on Mission Bay.
The Tritons, ending the 2,000 meter course with a time of 6:00.35, fell behind Penn (6:00.25) and Purdue (6:00.30) and ahead of Colgate (6:00.80) in a blanket finish.
“To be racing with the top 15 or so programs in the country and come as close as we did,” UCSD head coach Zach Johnson said, “I would say that's not bad at all.”
The Triton boat featured coxswain Shanti Tharayil, Ryan Andre, Shawn Hay, Derek Huffman, Jay Dee Morgan, Zachary Hearns, Jeff Collett, Gilbert Collins and Jonathan Lynch. On Saturday, as part of a revitalized Copley Cup field featuring reigning national champion Washington and defending Crew Classic winner Stanford, the same UCSD group placed sixth in a tightly packed heat.
UCSD fared well in the junior varsity petite final Sunday, finishing in second behind UCLA. The Tritons placed ahead of Santa Clara, Orange Coast College, UC Davis “B,” and UC Irvine.
“I thought they had a very strong race given how tough the field was,” Johnson said. “It really shows our program's depth.”
The JV group included coxswain Cameran Biltucci, Michael Sullivan, David Payne, Richard Lund, Nathaniel Taylor, Anthony Rubino, Brodie Kaster, Mark Melikian and Dominic Shiosaki.
In the two other races featuring UCSD boats, the Triton novice women's crew finished fifth in an open competition on Sunday and the men's crew “B” boat placed third in a field of six during its open race.
UCSD will return to Mission Bay next Saturday, April 12, for the San Diego City Championships.
“USD is really strong this year and we hope to continue the success we've had in the past few years,” Johnson said about the upcoming competition. “We want to build on the momentum gained from this weekend at the Crew Classic.”
