League Race #4

After rowing against much larger clubs in Long Beach the previous weekend, the Berkeley boats put on a strong display back home in the Alameda Channel against the smaller clubs in the league. The younger Berkeley rowers did exceptionally well. The women's Frosh/Novice 8 A & B and Novice Lightweight 4 A & B boats each finished 1st and 2nd, respectively, in their races. The women's Frosh 4 and the Men's Frosh 4 A boat both won their races, too. A great way for our new rowers to end the regular season!

The older rowers also did well. The Men's Junior Varsity 4 A & B boats took 1st & 2nd places, respectively, against a full field, and the Lightweight 4 A & B boats came in 1 - 2, respectively, in their race against a single Stockton boat. In a pair of close Varsity 4 races, the men fell to the River City Rowing Club by only 1.2 seconds in a head to head match, and the women's A boat took second, just 2.5 seconds behind the winner, Stanford.

Well done, Berkeley. Now it's on to the CJs! Results (from row2k.com):
Women's Varsity 8, Varsity 4, Frosh/Novice 8 and Novice 4
Men's Lightweight 4, Junior Varsity 4 and Varsity 4; Women's Frosh 4, Lightweight 8, Novice Lightweight 4 and Lightweight 4  
Men's Frosh 4  

Long Beach Junior Crew Invitational

The Men's and Women's teams traveled to Long Beach Harbor for two days of racing at the annual Long Beach Sprints. Located in Long Beach's unique Marine Stadium, built for the 1932 Olympics, the Berkeley boats faced stiff competition from crews coming from all over the west (Long Beach, Newport, San Diego, Oakland, Tempe, Stockton and others). Berkeley rowers fielded boats in a number of categories, and showed grit and determination in all of them. Saturday highlights included the Women's Frosh 8+ taking 3rd in their heat to advance to the final, a 3rd place for the Men's JV 4(A) in their heat, and the Women's JV4 barely edged out of 3rd place by Delta Blades. Sunday's races also saw some close finishes, with the Women's LT 8(A) missing 3rd place and a shot at the final by .8 second behind Stanford, the Women's Varsity 4(A) taking 3rd in their heat, and the Men's Varsity 4(A) besting San Diego for second place by a mere .6 sec, advancing them to the final.

Saturday: Full results (from racetrak.com)  ...with rowers' names
Sunday: Full results (from racetrak.com)  ...with rowers' names

League Race #3

On Saturday, the Berkeley boats were competitive, putting up strong showings in the Women's Freshman 8, and Men's Novice 8. In the Men's Lightweight 8 race, Berkeley was edged out of second place by barely a seat length behind Serra. And despite being waked by a cabin cruiser in the middle of the course, the Women's Novice 8 (B) still pulled out a third place behind the Strokes novices. The Men's Lightweight 4 beat out a Strokes' 4 for a first place finish. On Sunday, the women returned to challenge the Varsity, taking third in one of the weekend's closest finishes against Norcal and Mercer in the Varsity 4. The Varsity 8 also looked very strong, and the women fielded the season's first quad against a Norcal quad. One of the weekend's last races saw the Women's Lightweight 4 (C) boat in a surprise finish ahead of our own (B) and (A) boats. The regatta was a good workout in preparation for the upcoming Long Beach Sprints at Marine Stadium on April 18-20.

View race results at row2k.com:  Novice events and 3V  Varsity Men  Sunday results(1)   Sunday results(2)
See race photos: Picasa web album

Berkeley High School v Pacific Rowing Club Regatta

The Women's Novice 8B boat came within two seconds of victory. The Men's JV 8 fell by less than 5 seconds, and the Men's Novice 4 couldn't quite fend off the late charge of their PRC rival. The Men's Novice 8 ended the morning with a spirited sprint, closing from several boat lengths back to within .8 seconds of the second place PRC B boat at the finish.
Read all the race results.
See race photos: Picasa web album

League Race #2

Beach launches into mountain run-off, early on a cold and drizzly Saturday morning. March madness, crew style!
Read all the women's race results.  Read all the men's race results.
See race photos: Picasa web album

League Race #1: Battle of the Bay

The Battle of the Bay brought Marin Rowing Association, Oakland Strokes, Saint Ignatius and Berkeley High together for a morning of intense competition at Berkeley's Aquatic Park course. For some of the novice rowers this was their first league competition (their heats in the previous week's shortened Novice Regatta having been cancelled due to high winds). Over 2000 meter sprints, Berkeley High saw third place finishes in the Women's Freshman 8+ (8:23), the Men's Novice A 8+ (8:00), the Women's Novice A 8+ (8:34), the Women's Novice B 8+ (8:37) and the Men's Varsity 4+ (7:59.4). The Women's Varsity Lightweight 8+ powered past Oakland Strokes to a first place finish in their heat (8:17.3), resulting in winning coxswain Naomi ending up in the Bay at the end of the the day!
Read all the Varsity/JV race results.   Read all the Novice/Frosh race results.
See race photos: Picasa web album

2008 Southwest Junior Rowing Association Novice Regatta

The Novice crews had their first taste of competitive racing Saturday on Lake Merced. In this invitational event, Berkeley High raced against teams from San Diego Rowing Club, Newport Aquatic Center, Long Beach RC, Marina AC, Los Gatos RC, Stanford, Oakland Strokes, Pacific RC, Marin Rowing Association, and Capital Crew. The calm morning weather gave way to mid-day winds that forced the cancellation of contests before all the rowers had the opportunity to compete. Though the results might not have been 'end of season' quality, the effort and the spirit were!
Read all the race results.
See race photos: Picasa web album

Spring 2008 Racing Season

1) Golden State Indoor Rowing Championships - February 2, 2008
2) Novice Regatta (Novice Men and Women Only) @ Lake Merced - March 1, 2008
3) League Race # 1 - Battle of the Bay @ JLAC - March 8, 2008
4) League Race # 2 - BHS, LGRC Novice, CAP @ Lake Natoma - March 29, 2008

*Note Spring Break is March 31- April 4, 2008. There will be practice during this week due to League Race schedule.

5) BHS v. PRC Regatta @ JLAC (BHS Hosts) - April 6, 2008
6) League Race # 3 - OAK, SERRA, NORCAL, BHS @ JLAC - April 12, 2008
    Plus additional women's scrimmage, April 13, 2008
7) Long Beach Sprints (Selected Boats) @ Long Beach - April 18-20, 2008
8) League Race # 4 - PARC, SRC, RCRC, HBRA, JLAC, Stanford, BHS @ JLAC (BHS Hosts) - April 27, 2008
9) Southwest Regional Championships (CJ's) @ Lake Natoma - May 10-11, 2008
10) US Rowing Youth Nationals (Invitational - Qualifying Boats Only) @ Cincinnati - June 13-15, 2008

Download 2008 Racing Season schedule: SpringRaces08.pdf

Looking Ahead to the CJ's

Southwest Regional Championships - May 10-11, 2008

For race Information and a description of the regatta by George Buffington, please download this document: BHS Crew at CJs-info.doc