Rowing Teams Near Finish

By Ryan Mahoney

Neither of the top men or women's boats returned to the Mission Campus with any hardware this past weekend, but both rowing teams are looking ahead to their final races of the season with a sense of optimism. 

At the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association's championship races, the men's top varsity boat posted a time of 6:24.3, good enough for fourth in the Division I in the IRA eligible bracket. 

"Our varsity boat underperformed a little bit in that race," senior Captain Toban Platt said. "We are in our first year under our new head coach, Jay Farwell, so all things considered, it was good."

The men's second varsity boat may have had the best showing of the weekend, advancing to and winning the petite finals. After a first-round time of 6:28.4, they shaved five seconds off their time to seal the petite title with a time of 6:23.1.

"Going into WIRAs, we had high expectations and after a qualifying round where we didn't execute, we needed to prove ourselves in petites," freshman Tyler Sellers said. "We crossed the finish line in first, but more work definitely needs to be done."

Their season will conclude at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships in Sacramento, Calif. May 18, where they will look to finish the season strong like they have done in the past. 

"It's a different race. We've traditionally done really well there," said Platt. "Last year I won the pair, so I'm excited to defend my title. We're entering a bunch of boats and hoping to pick up a bunch of medals."

Freshman Christopher Doyle said the team has recommitted itself. "(WIRAs) lit a fire for us," he said. 

The women didn't bring home a title, but were encouraged by the weekend's results. They shaved five seconds off their time from the previous weekend, posting a time of 7:31.9.

"I'm a first-year, but I can definitely sense the closeness between the girls, and I think that we all want to work for each other to win," said sophomore Molly Walker, a member of the Varsity Eight. "It obviously wasn't what we wanted on the race course. We didn't do as well as we hoped, but I think that will work to unite us because we saw how much more work we have to do."

The women will next be in action on May 18, also in Sacramento,  to compete in the West Coast Conference Championships.

"Seeing the other schools definitely make us want to be as good as them," said Walker. "We want to put that kind of work in and work hard to encourage each other. We're ready to give it all we've got." 

Contact Ryan Mahoney at rmahoney@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.