SAN DIEGO - After an impressive showing on the opening day of the 38th Annual San Diego Crew Classic, the UC San Diego men's crew team had three separate boats post top five finishes in the finals on Sunday at Mission Bay.

The Tritons varsity eight was part of an extremely tight grand final of the Copley Cup, in which they finished fifth of six boats. This race came right down to the wire, with a mere 6.2 seconds separating third and sixth place in the men's varsity collegiate final. With a line of Shawn Kuo, Edwin Clement, Drew Lawyer, Brandon Gonzalez, Joey Frank, Erik Smith, Benton Sparks, Justin Gordon and Drew Madden, UCSD posted a time of 6:13.2.

Head coach Zach Johnson's second varsity eight raced in the final of the Sharp Cabrillo Cup, which proved to be another close race. The Tritons finished fifth in that race as well, posting a time of 6:17.25. They were just 13 seconds behind the winning crew from Cal.

UCSD's novice boat battled in the grand final of the Derek Guelker Memorial Cup. The Golden Bears again took first, with UCSD following 18 seconds behind and finishing in fourth place with a time of 6:24.

"The biggest thing to take out of this weekend is that we're coming closer and closer to bridging the gap between ourselves and the top rowing programs in the country," Johnson said. "The rest of the season is going to be about finishing what we've started and how much can we build on what we did this weekend."

The Tritons will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Newport Beach to race in the Newport Regatta on Saturday, April 9.

Sunday's Results

Copley Cup - Varsity Eight
1. Cal- 5:54.9
2. Stanford- 5:57.75
3. Michigan- 6:08.24
4. Oregon State- 6:11.1
5. UCSD- 6:13.2
6. Temple- 6:14.46

Sharp Cabrillo Cup - Second Varsity Eight
1. Cal- 6:04.7
2. Stanford- 6:12.32
3. Cal "B"- 6:13.9
4. Oregon State- 6:16.29
5. UCSD "A"- 6:17.25
6. Notre Dame- 6:22.2

Derek Guelker Memorial Cup - Novice
1. Cal- 6:06
2. OCC "A"- 6:18.03
3. Oregon State- 6:18.34
4. UCSD- 6:24
5. USD- 6:32.64
6. UCSB "A"- 6:39.5