UCSD women’s crew participated in its biggest regatta thus far in the spring season on March 22. The Berg Cup, held in Newport, Calif., included UCLA, USD, UC Irvine, Occidental, CSU Long Beach, Chapman and UCSD.
The Tritons raced four boats in four races. In the varsity eight, UCSD finished fifth out of six boats. In the second varsity eight race, UCSD finished sixth out of six. The novice eight boat finished third out of seven. The second novice eight boat finished second out of two.
“”We actually have never raced at the Berg Cup before,”” said Stephanie Barriere, who raced in the varsity eight boat. “”The race was really competitive and all the crews were strong.””
The boats in the first varsity eight race finished in the following order: UCLA with 6:42.5, USD at 6:47.8, UCI at 6:50.4, CSULB at 6:52.4, UCSD with 7:12.0 and Chapman with 7:24.8.
“”The crew felt it was their best race so far this season … and it was the fastest time the varsity has recorded since I’ve come to the school,”” said head coach Patti Pinkerton.
The second race of varsity eight boats finished with USD at 7:06.4, UCLA at 7:08.8, OCC at 7:11.0, a CSULB lightweight boat with 7:17.0, UCI with 7:21.1 and UCSD with 7:26.8.
“”The boat had a great start and was in second for the first part of the race, but ended up dropping down to sixth,”” said co-captain Sara Patton.
The third race, the first novice eight race, finished with UCLA at 6:49.7, USD at 7:00.8, UCSD with 7:04.0, UCI with 7:17.6, OCC at 7:31.5, Chapman at 7:42.6 and CSULB with 7:54.8.
During the last race, UCLA finished first with a time of 7:26.99 and UCSD finished second at 7:39.0.
“”Our boat was not expected to finish as close to UCLA as we did,”” said coxswain Arianna Pilram. “”I think that is incredible because no one expected it.””
The next race UCSD will participate in is the San Diego Crew Classic on April 5 and April 6.
“”We race an important race next week with national champion UC Davis, Humboldt State University and Chapman University,”” Pinkerton said. “”Humboldt, Davis and Western Washington (not attending) are the schools who will challenge us for the NCAA bid in May.””
Patton hopes UCSD will rise to the occasion at a big race like the Crew Classic.
“”I know that we have more speed than we’ve shown in our first few races, so hopefully we will be much faster when the races are really important,”” Patton said.
