SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? The UC San Diego men's crew continued their phenomenal season with an impressive showing at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships over the weekend at Lake Natoma in Sacramento. Both the men's varsity eight and second varsity eight earned spots in the Grand Finals and placed second overall, while the novice eight and novice lightweight four boats also competed in Grand Finals during day two of action on Sunday. As a team, the Tritons finished third overall, despite entering only five boats.
The second place finish for the varsity eight boat resulted in an automatic berth for the Tritons in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. UCSD thus becomes the first California varsity eight outside of perennial powerhouses Cal and Stanford to earn a place in the IRA Championships. At the event, Ryan Andre, Jeff Collett, and Karam Badran were named to the All-WIRA first team, while Jonathan Lynch was a second team honoree and head coach Zach Johnson was named Coach of the Year.
The Tritons varsity eight boat gave a glimpse of their success at the event with a win in heat two during Saturday's preliminary stages, completing the course with a time of 6:02.3 that ranked as third best prelim time overall. The squad, featuring the lineup of Andrew Hilton, Andre, Jay Dee Morgan, Collett, Kris Grey, Nathan Morgan, Badran and Justin Gordon and coxswain Cameran Bittucci, went on to finish second in the Grand Final, just one second behind Gonzaga University, rowing to an outstanding finish at 6:00.3, earning a silver medal after a fifth-place finish last season.
“The varsity eight performance was one of the best races I've ever seen,” said Johnson. “Somebody had to win and somebody had to lose, but it was an incredible race to be a part of.”
Gonzaga pulled out nearly a boat length ahead of UCSD during the first 400 meters, before the Tritons were able to pull even around the 700 meters mark. After the Bulldogs again stretched to an advantage, the Tritons battled back and moved several seats into the lead with 500 meters left in the race. Unfortunately, Gonzaga pulled through in the final 400 meters for the photo-finish win with a time of 5:59.7.
The second varsity eight were equally successful, topping heat two in their division, before finishing second overall. Again, Gonzaga would win the event, but UCSD's second varsity eight boat finished with a time of 6:26.9.
“[The second varsity eight] have been a very steady and very good crew all year,” said Johnson of the squad which last year earned UCSD their first gold medal in a decade at the WIRA Championships.
The men's novice eight and novice lightweight four also put together strong performances at Lake Natoma. The novice eight finished fourth in their Grand Final with a time of 6:13.6, while the novice lightweight four boat braved the dreary conditions to record a fifth-place finish and time of 7:11.1. The varsity four was successful with a win in the third level final.
UCSD men's crew will look to conclude their record-breaking season on June 4-7 as the varsity eight competes in its first-ever IRA Championships. The Championships will take place in Sacramento on Lake Natoma with a 7 a.m. scheduled start time.
