No. 2 Stanford lightweight rowing took care of business at the Pacific Coast Rowing (PCRC) Championships on Saturday — one more step towards its ultimate goal of repeating its title at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships.
The Cardinal competed with two boats in the Open 8+ race and ended up taking first and second in the event. The Stanford A boat finished an astonishing 50.3 seconds ahead of the B boat, which beat third-place Colorado by 25.6 seconds. For the varsity eight, it was its eighth win of the spring season and fifth consecutive victory.
“There was a little bit of wind so there is always a concern that we might not get our catches in clean,” said junior Mackenzie Crist. “But we did a good job of executing our race.”
Despite not racing a single four event the entire spring, the Card put together three boats to race in the two heats of the Women’s Collegiate 4+ in order to prepare for IRAs.
“This was our first race as a four and was really a dress rehearsal for IRAs in two weeks,” said junior coxswain Allison Nguyen. “It is a little different because there are less people in the boat so the intensity isn’t as much. It is up to you to carry out the race plan. We were down off the start but our race plan is to keep our heads in the boat. At the 250 [mark] we started walking on Sacramento State…I was really happy with our result and am proud of everybody in the boat. We have a great point to work off of the next two weeks.”
The A boat finished five seconds behind USC to take second place in the first heat. Stanford’s B and C boats finished second and fourth, respectively, in the second heat.
“Our mindset for this race was to focus internally on our boat and see what we could do,” Crist said. “We wanted to have a race that we would feel confident in heading in to IRAs. We did a good job of having a steady race to accomplish that goal.”
The lightweights will now prepare for the real test of their season in West Windsor, New Jersey at the IRA National Championships, which start May 28.
Contact Ashley Westhem at awesthem ‘at’ stanford.edu.