Rowing finishes fourth in the Pac-12
Despite a second-place finish in the varsity four, the UCLA women’s rowing team finished less than three seconds behind third-place California in the varsity eight to finish fourth overall at the Pac-12 championships.
By Zachary Lemos
May 20, 2013 12:00 a.m.
After 1,500 meters of UCLA’s final race at the Pac-12 championships last weekend, the varsity eight found itself sandwiched in fourth, one boat length behind third-place Cal and two seconds ahead of fifth-place Stanford.
As the eights moved into the final quarter of the race, fifth-place Stanford, who had been trailing UCLA all race, made a strong push for the Bruins’ spot.
Senior coxswain Mia Hamano called for the eight athletes in front of her to give the last of their energy to stifle the Cardinal’s move and the Bruins finished fourth by less than a second.
Although this level of stiff competition was present throughout the weekend, players and coaches alike agreed the weekend’s struggles had a silver lining.
“Having this kind of hard race was the best thing that could happen to us because it will really prepare us for NCAAs,” Hamano said. “Where other teams like Virginia are getting easily No. 1 in their conference with zero competition, we have like the hardest conference which makes it much better when we go to NCAAs because everyone is really prepared and knows what it takes.”
The Bruins’ saw their best finish of the weekend in the varsity four where they took second, the highest placing for that event in UCLA’s history.
However, in both the first and second varsity eight races, UCLA placed fourth.
“The three teams that beat us in the varsity eight and second varsity eight are among the fastest in the country so we have a lot to be proud of,” said coach Amy Fuller Kearney.
The challenges the team faced reached beyond their strong competition. Tough conditions added an additional layer of difficulty.
“There were some technical things that could’ve been better; obviously the conditions weren’t ideal because we had a raging cross-headwind so lanes seven and six had a huge advantage,” Hamano said.
But with NCAA championships coming up in two weeks, the team is eager to take the lessons they learned this weekend and put them into practice. With a strong regional performance behind them, the team is looking to make a real impact at NCAAs.
“Last year we made the petite final not the grand, but this year we’ve got our eyes on the grand final,” said junior port/starboard Natalie Pettee. “If we can get into that top-six grand final, then we’re just going for it.”
