No. 6 Rowing advances all four boats to grand finals at San Diego Crew Classic

Saturday, April 1

San Diego, Calif. (Mission Bay)

All Day

University of Texas

San Diego Crew Classic

No. 6 Rowing advances all four boats to grand finals at San Diego Crew Classic

04.01.2017 | Rowing

Longhorns win all four prelim heats on day one in San Diego.

SAN DIEGO – No. 6 Texas swept all four of its preliminary heats and advanced all four boats to their respective grand finals Saturday on day one of the 44^th annual San Diego Crew Classic at Mission Bay.

Texas contested races in all three of the NCAA Championship-level races – the I Eight, II Eight and Four – and also raced a novice eight boat. UT's I Eight held off a challenge from Wisconsin and took the win in Heat "A" of the Jessop-Whittier Cup in 6 minutes, 23.062 seconds. The Badgers settled for second at 6:27.671 while UCLA followed in third at 6:38.209. UT's I Eight advances to the grand final set for 10:16 a.m. local time on Sunday. Texas will meet USC, Wisconsin, Washington State, UCLA and British Columbia in the grand final.

The Longhorns' four boat cruised to an open water win in Heat "A" of the Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup and was victorious at 7:21.958. San Diego followed in second at 7:38.272 while Tennessee took third at 7:43.358. Texas meets USC, Wisconsin, UCLA, San Diego and Washington State in the grand final Sunday at 11:56 a.m. PT.

Likewise, the Texas II Eight advanced to its grand final with room to spare. The Longhorns took the win in Heat "A" at 6:28.991 while Tennessee placed second at 6:35.057. San Diego rounded out the top-three at 6:45.541. Texas will join UCLA, Wisconsin, USC, Washington State and Tennessee in the Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness grand final Sunday at 9:52 a.m. PT.

All seven boats in the lone novice 8+ race were assured of places in Sunday's Laurel Korholz Trophy final, but the Longhorns left nothing to chance and won the prelim heat by open water in 7:01.298. British Columbia took second at 7:22.517. Those two schools will join UCLA, San Diego State, UCSB, Sacramento State and Loyola Marymount in Sunday's final at 9:28 a.m. PT.

"We had a good day as all boats won their heats," said UT head coach Dave O'Neill. "Both the first and second eights were pushed pretty hard, and those wins were well earned. We'll be tested tomorrow, and we'll have to step up in a big way."

Complete results from the San Diego Crew Classic can be found here, and live video is available here.

San Diego Crew Classic (Day 1 of 2)
Women's Collegiate Varsity 8+ Jessop-Whittier Cup Heat A (Top-3 to Grand Final, 10:16a.m. local)
1 TEXAS 6:23.062

2 Wisconsin 6:27.671

3 UCLA 6:38.209

4 Victoria 6:41.741

5 UCSB 6:58.060

Women's Collegiate Varsity 4+ Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup Heat A (Top-2 to Grand Final, 11:56a.m. local)
1 TEXAS 7:21.958

2 San Diego 7:38.272

3 Tennessee 7:43.358

4 UCSB 8:17.747

5 Santa Clara 8:53.121

Women's Collegiate 2V8+ Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Heat A (Top-2 to Grand Final Sunday, 9:52 a.m. local)
1 TEXAS 6:28.991