Trojans Enjoy Highest Finish Ever in California Cup

San Diego, CA – April 2, 2006: The Trojan Navy opened its spring season with an historic third place finish in the California Cup for varsity crews at the San Diego Crew Classic held on Mission Bay on Sunday.



Seeded 7th out of 21 entries, USC needed to upset race pundits in the preliminary heats on Saturday morning to qualify for the six-boat grand final.
The Trojan Navy’s flagship crew of coxswain Emily Chin, stroke Bryan Barrett, Lee McAuliffe, Jeff Clark, Kevin Lorell, Allan Thesenvitz, Taylor Coats, Adam Fish and bowman Sterling Brisbin began the weekend in excellent form.

USC out stroked UC San Diego, Gonzaga, Rollins College, Santa Clara University and San Diego State University to win its heat in a time of 6:08. USC and UC San Diego advanced to the grand final on Sunday morning and were joined by Orange Coast College, Colorado, Lehigh and Loyola Marymount.

The Trojans had previously qualified for the grand final of the California Cup in two of the past three years and this season’s crew was more experienced than ever.

In the grand final, less than half a length separated the top four crews after 500m of racing, with Orange Coast College leading the field early ahead of Colorado, UC San Diego and USC. At the half-way point just a boat length separated all six crews with Orange Coast still leading.

“The grand final of the California Cup is a huge race. It is not about who has the most scholarships to import world champions from around the globe. It is about real students, mostly walk-ons, with similar funding, racing each other in similar equipment. There is not a huge financial barrier to entry for this event and that is why it is so popular,” said USC Head Coach Gene Kininmonth.

With 500m to the finish, the two student-club programs, Colorado and USC kept pushing but Orange Coast College, appearing to relish the challenge, raced away with the victory.



California Cup Grand Final
1. Orange Coast 6 minutes 25.3 seconds.
2. Colorado 6: 25.93
3. USC 6:29.19
4. UC San Diego 6: 29.37
5. Lehigh 6:30.4
6. Loyola 6:35.88

The result was the best ever for USC at the San Diego Crew Classic. “This Crew and its coach (Joe Richards) should be proud of what they have accomplished this weekend,” said Coach Kininmonth. “Just four years ago USC raced in its first varsity eight race in a decade. Now this program has a strong regional presence in the sport. This year we had ten oarsmen vying for nine seats in the boat. With many returning, next year we will have two dozen rowers and coxswains competing for seats to make the varsity crew faster.”

Baptism by Fire:
The USC Novice squad made its spring debut in San Diego. Race officials accepted a record 23 entries for the Men’s Collegiate Novice 8 event and USC’s two crews finished 11th and 17th. Cal Berkeley won the event.

“The level of competition was a shock for us,” said freshman captain Luke Monroe. “Two of the three schools we had successfully scrimmaged this spring finished last in the preliminary heats and so we probably entered this regatta with a false sense of confidence as a result.”

Full race results can be found at www.crewclassic.com

The Trojan Navy would like to thanks all those who came to San Diego to support the Crew, especially Sean & Denise Barrett for hosting a delicious banquet for the Trojan Family on Saturday evening.

Next up, the Trojan Navy travels to Washington DC to race at the George Washington Crew Classic on April 8. A welcome reception for parents and local alumni to ‘meet the crew’ will be hosted by the USC Alumni Club of the Nations Capital on Friday evening –All Welcome!



USC Crew Welcome Reception
Friday, April 7, 2006
La Tasca Restaurant
(nearest metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown stop on the red line)
722 7th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
7:00-8:30 PM.

FULL DETAILS
CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS

Collegiate races begin at 10:10am on Saturday morning with finals concluding at 3:15pm. Spectators can watch the races from Thompson’s Boat Center, 2900 Virginia Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20037