Women’s rowing takes on conference rivals

Dexter Lake race provides opportunities for Toreros 

MARI OLSON / SPORTS EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

The University of San Diego Women’s Rowing team traveled to Dexter Lake, near Eugene, OR, last weekend to take on West Coast Conference (WCC) competition in the Oregon State University (OSU) Invite race. 

The Toreros entered boats in the three National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) points-winning categories: the first varsity eight, the second varsity eight, and the varsity four. At conference championships across the country and at NCAA championships in late May, these boats constitute the determining races for which team wins. The first varsity eight is worth the most points, the second varsity eight is the next most important, and the varsity four is the cherry on top. 

USD raced against hosts OSU, Gonzaga University, Loyola Marymount University (LMU), and the University of Portland (UP). Besides the hosts, all other crews compete in the WCC, with Gonzaga being USD’s closest conference rival. 

Head coach Stesha Carle emphasized the importance of being able to race conference teams this late in the season. 

“It will be the last time that we see [the conference teams] before we race them at WCCs, our conference championship, so this race allows us to check margins,” Carle said. 

Checking margins is a way of determining where a team stands in relation to another team, speed-wise. It can be helpful for crews to know how far behind or ahead they are of a team they are hoping to beat in a few weeks, so that they know exactly how much speed they need to gain. 

Carle also hoped her team would be able to apply some of their practice to a race scenario. 

“Every time we race we get an opportunity to execute race plans that we’ve practiced during the week, and I think especially as we’re in the middle of our season, we’re fine tuning a lot, so the expectation is that we get to dial in a little bit more,” Carle said. 

In all three events entered, the Toreros finished third overall. OSU took the win in all categories, Gonzaga came second, and USD finished behind the Bulldogs. LMU and UP were fourth and fifth, respectively. 

The varsity four raced first, and although they got off to an early lead in the first 250 meters of the race, Gonzaga and OSU found their groove as the race went on and moved through the Toreros. Although OSU got a blade stuck in the water and had to stop rowing at the 750 meter mark, allowing the other crews to catch up, the Beavers still found a way to pull out the win. OSU finished with a time of 7:33 with Gonzaga right behind in 7:34, while USD went 7:49. 

The second varsity eight had a rocky start; the course had a heavy crosswind coming in from the right, meaning that crews were constantly adjusting at the start line in order to get straight for the beginning of the race. Because of the wind, race officials started the race earlier than the USD second varsity expected, so the Toreros started off slightly behind the rest of the field. 

However, USD was able to find their rhythm, and fought back to take over LMU and UP. OSU was in first again with a time of 6:43, Gonzaga second in 6:55, and USD came third in 7:01. 

The first varsity eight profiled similarly to the second varsity. Their start was a little slower than the rest of the field, and they also had to fight back throughout the race. OSU and Gonzaga jumped way out ahead, leaving USD to fight off LMU and UP for the third place finish. LMU posed a threat in the second half of the race, finding some speed to challenge the Toreros, but USD was able to hold them off. 

OSU finished in 6:29, Gonzaga in 6:39, and USD in 6:52 in the first varsity. LMU was just behind in fourth with a time of 6:53. 

Senior captain Isla Blake wasn’t entirely happy with how the races turned out. 

“I was a little bit disappointed in how it went,” Blake said. “It’s frustrating because I think our boat is really strong and we put in a lot of work and we see a lot of really good things happening in practice.” 

Carle noted that the two eights exemplified what she would like the team to work on in the next few weeks. 

“Overall I would like the team to  be a little bit faster off the beginning part of the race so that we can be a little more competitive through the middle part of the race,” Carle said. “That way, the race almost takes care of itself, so we’re not hunting down crews, but we’re getting to control our races.”

Although the season is winding down, Blake feels confident that there is more speed to find.  

“We’ve still got time, we’ve still got opportunities before the big race at the end of the season to figure out racing and performing under pressure. I think we’ve got time to find it,” Blake said. 

Carle agreed with Blake that there is still time and room for USD to get faster.

“We still are planning to pick up speed in different ways, so in some ways it’s good to not have a perfect race yet, but definitely the fact that we’re getting closer is really exciting,” Carle said.

The Toreros are looking to gain enough speed to put themselves ahead of Gonzaga in two weeks. Winning WCCs means an automatic ticket to NCAA championships in Sarasota, FL on May 28, which is Torero rowing’s biggest goal. 

This weekend, the team travels to Sacramento, CA to race at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships.