SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's rowing team took part in the San Diego Crew Classic over the weekend, putting together their best performance in school history while racing against some of the top crews in the nation. The varsity eight boat placed second in the petite final on Sunday while finishing eight overall in the Copley Cup race after earning entrance with their Cal Cup victory from last season. The second varsity eight boat was far ahead of all other conference opponents, and the novices matched a UCSD-best with their fourth place finish.
"It was a great day, we did exceptionally well," said head coach Zach Johnson of the team's efforts.
The varsity eight boat finished with a time of 6:14.72 in a tight race. Eventual winner Temple took the lead early, while the Tritons came out in second place. UC Davis began to push with about 500 meters to go, pulling even and then ahead by mere feet with 100 meters left. Michigan was also able to even things up in the final 100 meters, but UCSD broke through with the final three strokes of the race to best Davis and Michigan. The Tritons, with Cameran Biltucci at coxswain, Andrew Hilton in the stroke seat, and joined by Nathan Morgan, Jay Dee Morgan, Justin Gordon, Michael Monrean, Erik Smith, Drew Madden, and Ed Yragui, finished with a time of 6:14.72, the Aggies came in at 6:15.04, and Michigan finished in 6:15.97.
"We won by about six inches over a mile-and-ahalf race. For us, it's incredible. This is the best we've ever finished at any crew invitational. Temple is a top-15 national program and to come in second [behind them] is amazing," said Johnson. "We're the only DII crew in the country that is able to hang with these crews. It's unheard of, it's just really cool how much we've grown in the last few years."
The second varsity boat was equally impressive, placing third in their petite final with a time of 6:22.95, just seven seconds behind national power Cal and in front of UC Davis, Washington State, and Santa Clara by over seven seconds. The Tritons performance was even more impressive considering they competed from the traditionally slower outside lane.
"They had a tough race on Saturday, but really made adjustments and improved," said Johnson.
The novices were able to match their best ever performance in a grand final at the regatta with a fourth place finish. UCSD finished fourth with a time of 6:36.61, despite not having their best race of the season.
UCSD men's crew will next take part in the George Washington Invitational in Washington D.C. on April 9-10.
"It doesn't get any easier from here," said Johnson of the upcoming schedule. "We're going to Washington DC for a series of dual meets, which we've never been invited to before. There's only eight teams invited, so it's just a lot of solid teams that are traditionally ranked in the top 20 in the country."
The George Washington Invitational is slated for a 7 a.m. start on Friday, April 9.
