Submitted by Mike Schoback.
Distance: 2000 meters
Conditions: Excellent water, slight quartering head for the V (first race) that turned around by the last race (men's JV)
Comments: The Cal men's and women's varsity eights defeated Stanford varsity crews by sizeable margins in dual racing on the Redwood Shores Lagoon, April 14. On the men's side, it was Cal's 11th consecutive sweep of the Cardinal in the Big Row while the women laid claim to their fifth consecutive Big Row decision in the varsity event. Coming into the weekend, the Cal men's varsity was ranked first nationally while the women were a respectable tenth in the polls. Stanford entered the weekend un-ranked.
In both varsity contests, Cal established itself as the leader in the early stages of the race and then consistently increased the margin as the crews progressed down the race course.
"That was good racing," said Cal men's coach Steve Gladstone. "Stanford was much more competitive in the early stages of the race than they have been in years past. We were up for the challenge."
"Our varsity lineup was the same as last week in San Diego," said women's head coach Dave O'Neill. "We continued to show good boat speed, as well as improvement. I knew Stanford was going to challenge us today and I'm pleased with the way the varsity answered that challenge."
In other racing, the Bears recorded victories in the men's and women's JV and men's freshman eight events along with the women's varsity four. Stanford took the women's novice eight and the women's varsity four races.
For the record, Stanford men's head coach Craig Amerkhanian's "Big Row" record slips to 11-1 overall. He had previously represented Cal twice as an oarsman and nine times as a coach in the annual event.