SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Triton rowers wrapped up their second day of competition at the San Diego Crew Classic on Sunday in windy conditions. The UCSD novice eight and open eight boats competed in their respective grand final races and the other two vied for petite championships.

"The weekend went well. The varsity eight raced well against some of the best teams in the country and was able to pull out a come from behind victory against conference rival Gonzaga in the final," said UCSD head coach Zach Johnson.

UCSD's second varsity eight placed first in a close petite final, edging second-finisher Gonzaga by just one second. UCSD, Gonzaga, and third place UC Santa Barbara were neck-and-neck at the finish, all coming in within three seconds of one another, with times of 6:50.47, 6:51.80, and 6:53.99, respectively.

The Triton varsity eight competed for the Invitational Petite title, finishing third out of four entrants. Clocking a time of 6:46.54, UCSD narrowly defeated Gonzaga's boat, which finished at 6:47.79. 

UCSD's novice eight squad was one of two Triton boats to qualify for a grand final Sunday, as they competed in the championship race for the Derek Guelker Cup. The Tritons finished in the middle of the pack, placing fourth in a field of six. UCSD came in behind the OCC "B" boat with a time of 6:54.15.

"The freshman were able to make the grand final by beating out a strong OCC crew, but lost the the top ranked frosh crew in the country in CAL. They drew an unfortunate outside lane in the grand final and in high winds had a rough race, but were able to match our best finish in that event coming in fourth," Johnson said.

One other Triton shell raced in a grand final Sunday, for the Men's Open grand final. UCSD faced schools including Cal, Boston College and USC to compete for the Joan Ward Memorial Trophy. The Tritons finished last in the race, recording a time of 7:12.30.

"Overall it was a very solid performance by everyone. We would have liked to have done better, but considering that most of the teams we were competing against were among the top 15 in the nation, we felt it was a good place to start the main part of our season," Johnson said.

UCSD will head to Washington, D.C. to row in the George Washington Invitational on April 6-7.

San Diego Crew Classic
April 1, 2012
Mission Bay
San Diego, Calif.

Men's Collegiate Varsity Invitational Petite
1. British Columbia 6:38.47
2. Temple 6:39.09
3. UCSD 6:46.54
4. Gonzaga 6:47.79

Men's 2V College Petite
1. UCSD 6:50.47
2. Gonzaga 6:51.80
3. UCSB 6:53.99
4. Washington St. 7:07.38
5. USD 7:08.76
6. UCLA 7:09.78

Men's Collegiate Novice Grand Final- Derek Guelker Cup
1. Cal 6:21.09
2. Gonzaga 6:45.58
3. OCC "B" 6:47.01
4. UCSD 6:54.15
5. UCLA 6:56.30
6. British Columbia 7:01.04

Men's Open Grand Final- Joan Ward Memorial Trophy
1. California RC 6:13.93
2. Cal 6:33.90
3. Little Knights 6:36.30
4. Boston College 6:39.06
5. USC 6:55.54
6. UCSD 7:12.30