No. 4 Cal Preps For Big Row
BERKELEY – The No. 4 California women's rowing team will face off against No. 2 Stanford in the Big Row Saturday at Redwood Shores in Redwood City. The Bears will send their top four varsity eight boats along with the first varsity four to take on the Cardinal.
As with every Big Row, the Bears will dedicate Saturday's races to Jill Costello, the former Cal coxswain who passed away in 2010 at the age of 22 after a battle with lung cancer. Cal rowers will wear "Team Jill" tank tops in her honor.
"The most important part of Saturday is to honor the legacy of Jill Costello," Cal head coach Al Acosta said. "We'll be racing as "Team Jill" in sea foam green tanks (Jill's favorite color). Jill's parents and former teammates will be there, so there's always some extra meaning attached to the event. 'Life is all about how we handle the challenges were given' is one of her most memorable quotes and we'll need to race with that in mind."
At last year's dual against then No. 2 Stanford, Cal fought hard in each race, coming up just short, with the fourth varsity eight notching the sole win of the day for the Bears.
All races will be live streamed here.
The Bears are coming off a successful dual against then-No. 7 Washington where they swept the first through fourth varsity eight races along with the varsity four to reclaim the Simpson Cup for the first time since 2019.
These will be the last set of races before the team prepares for the Pac-12 Championships on May 19 at Lake Natoma in Gold River.
"With Pac-12s and NCAAs around the corner, we're basically looking to keep the momentum going," Acosta said. "We had excellent races against Washington, so the goal is obviously to see if we can go a little faster and that would be the goal regardless of who we race."
Race Schedule (all times PST)
9 a.m. – V4+
9:15 a.m. – 2V8+
9:45 a.m. – V8+
10:15 a.m. – 3V8+
10:30 a.m. – 4V8+
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