Crew places seventh at Pac-10

By Jack Ferdon

At the halfway point of the men's varsity eight final, the Broncos appeared to be dead in the water.

It was the final race in the final meet of a very long year for one of Santa Clara's hardest working athletic program. The Bronco rowers had endured months of 6 a.m. practices and now it looked like the end result would be a colossal disappointment.

With 1,000 meters to go, Santa Clara was in fifth place in the seven-boat race, a consolation final in the Pac-10 Championships in Sacramento last weekend. Then the rowers of the varsity eight kicked in a big way, bolting into third place by the 1,500-meter mark and trailing first-place UC San Diego by a second and a half.

Santa Clara kept pushing throughout the final 500 meters and - after UCSD dropped back - pulled into a neck and neck race with Washington State and Long Beach State as the finish line neared. It came down to a final dash, and the Broncos proved to have the strongest boat.

"During a sprint in the last 40 meters, we pulled ahead and won," said junior Chris Tschinkel, who rows starboard for the varsity eight.

Santa Clara finished in first place with a time of 6:40.4, more than a second ahead of second-place Washington State. The field was made up of schools the Broncos had been racing the entire season.

"We knew it was going to be a dog fight," said Tschinkel. "Everyone wanted to win badly."

The other highlight of the weekend was the performance of the men's novice four-man. The boat beat up on two schools - Cal and Stanford - that normally provide stiff competition for Santa Clara rowers. Finishing in a speedy 7:26.1, the Broncos left the Bears and the Cardinals in their wake.

The performance qualified the novice four for competition in the ICRA's - the national championships of rowing - to be held next week in New Jersey.

The men's novice lightweight eight boat - which includes some of the novice four rowers - also won its race, edging UC Santa Barbara with a time of 7:14.5.

The men's lightweight four took second place, losing only to Cal.

The women's crew team did not fare as well as the men. The varsity eight failed to make the consolation final, but they did win their race against third-tier competition.

With their victory, the men's varsity eight will have reason to expect more of the same next season. The boat will be graduating two of its strongest rowers - Sean Eirich and Evan Roades-Brown - but the rest are expected to return. Add that to the Broncos' strong novice rowers and the team looks solid.

"It's pretty exciting," said Tschinkel. "We went out with a bang. We have a lot to be proud of and a lot to look forward to."