UCSD men’s crew flew cross-country to New Jersey to race in the Avaya Division II National Championships from May 10 to May 11. The regatta, which consisted of both collegiate and international crews, included some of the top non-scholarship crews in the country. The Tritons entered boats in two divisions: varsity eight and novice eight.
Racing in view of 6,000 fans, the Triton varsity team got an idea of how they measure up to the best in the country.
“”We’ve had good speed early in the year,”” said UCSD coach Michael Filippone.
But the Tritons had a hard time keeping up.
In their first heat, the Triton men finished fifth, .98 seconds behind fourth-place Virginia. The low result in the heat forced UCSD into the third-level final race.
Against other crews who finished fifth and sixth in their respective heats, UCSD had a forgettable final race. Stroking against a strong headwind, the Tritons crossed the line as the sixth and final crew. Their time of 6:32.6 was 13 seconds behind third-level champion Gonzaga and 18th overall out of 18 teams.
“”There was some incredibly fast racing,”” Filippone said. “”Our goal is to see what real speed is and to try to get to that level. The level of rowing there was much higher [then we’re used to].””
With the varsity eight struggling, the novice eight looked like it would struggle too. In its first heat, the boat got grouped with powerhouse Michigan and with rival Orange Coast College.
With the Wolverine boat well ahead, the battle was between UCSD and OCC for second place and a chance to reach the championship final. The race came down to the line where the Pirates from Orange Coast finished .04 seconds ahead of UCSD, sending the Tritons to the petite final.
In the petite final, the novice squad finished in second place with a time of 6:36.85; three seconds behind petite champion Ithaca. The second-place showing gave them an eighth-place finish out of 18 overall crews.
“”By participating in an event like this, we are bringing UCSD crew to another level,”” Filippone said. “”These are some of the fastest crews in the country and we showed that we have comparable speed. This is another step toward our goal of making UCSD a powerhouse in this sport.””
Coming off its journey to the Garden State, UCSD didn’t have much time to recover before taking five boats to Sacramento last weekend for the Pac-10 Championships.
On Lake Natoma, the second novice eight crew stole the show, pulling away from the field in the final 800 meters and winning the gold medal. The crew included coxswain Angela Lew, stroke Kevin Murphy, Ian Patrick, David Breslauer, Brian McNamara, Cameron Hand, Josh Emerson, Jon McCoy and Greg Moore at bow.
“”These are a bunch of great guys who have been training really hard together for the past two weeks,”” Filippone said of his second novice team.
The varsity eight crew didn’t have such good luck.
In their heat, the Tritons came in dead last, which put them in the petite final where they came out smoking, holding the lead for the majority of the race. But in the final 1,000 meters they faltered and finished the race fourth.
“”There was some turmoil the day before we left for the race,”” Filippone said. “”We lost our stroke oar the day before the race, and that’s hard for any crew to recover from.””
The novice eight didn’t have much luck either, making the final race, but finishing sixth overall and losing to UC Davis, who the Tritons had not lost to this year.
“”This is probably the fastest novice eight in UCSD history,”” Filippone said. “”Both the varsity eight and novice eight may have done too much racing though. Racing in Sacramento, [in] New Jersey and Sacramento three weeks in a row had to have an effect on them.””
Varsity coxswain Catherine Stringer agreed with his coach.
“”The traveling, along with school, had an impact on all of us energy-wise,”” Stringer said. “”But going to New Jersey was a big deal and it was worth it for the team bonding and excitement it produced.””
The Tritons also brought two boats of four to the races. The varsity four finished fourth in the petite final and the “”Mighty Mites”” of the lightweight four boat didn’t make the final heat.
“”The varsity four boat only practiced for one day together,”” Filippone said. “”I’m proud of them, but with more practice, I think the result would have been much better. We are a solid team from varsity to novice and we’ll be even stronger next year.””
