GOLD RIVER, Calif. - UC San Diego men's crew captured the Efficiency Trophy Sunday at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships. The award is given to the program with the best results based on number of boats.
Of the Tritons' three boats entered, the junior varsity eight took first place and the novice eight finished second in its race. The varsity eight boat, battling a strong crosswind, couldn't recover from a slow start and crossed the line in sixth place.
"You have to tip your hat to the winner of that race, Washington State," UCSD head coach Zach Johnson said. "We knew they were fast and they certainly handled the conditions better than the rest of the pack."
Johnson was selected as WIRA Coach of the Year for the second-straight season and junior Jon Seibert, of the junior varsity boat, earned a spot on the All-WIRA Second Team for his performance this weekend.
Seibert rowed at the 7-seat in the junior varsity eight, which also featured Shawn Kuo (coxswain), Michael Verdone (8-seat), Justin Hsu (6), Joey Frank (5), Billy Scherba (4), Zach Sharfman (3), Kellen Mandehr (2) and Alfred Tam (1). That group found themselves trailing Gonzaga heading into the final 300 meters of Sunday's race but came from behind to top the Bulldogs by the narrow margin of 6:36.6 to 6:36.8.
The novice competition proved to be even closer and the race officials even needed a lengthy video review to determine the winner as Orange Coast College and UCSD produced a photo finish. Despite being down by a boat length with 500 meters left in the course, the Tritons picked up speed and went inch-by-inch with OCC to the finish. After the review, the Pirates were declared the winner with a time of 6:21.30. UCSD held a mark of 6:21.31.
WSU and UC Davis, the top two squads from the varsity eight final, qualified for the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (ITA) Championships, which will be held in Camden, N.J., from June 3-5.
