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Men's Rowing

Men’s Rowing Excels at WIRA Championships

Toreros raced on Lake Natoma on April 29 and 30

SACRAMENTO — San Diego men's rowing traveled up to Sacramento this past weekend to compete in the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships on Lake Natoma.

The USD Varsity Eight finished 5th out of the 11 entries in the event, while the Torero Freshman Four finished 8th out of the 18 crews.

The first race of the weekend was the Men's Varsity Eight event, in which the Toreros finished 3rd, qualifying for the Grand Final. 

In that final on Sunday, the crew raced out to a fast start, before ultimately finishing in 5th with a time of 6:05.3. UC San Diego won the event in 5:56.3, followed by UCLA, Santa Clara, and Orange Coast College, with Washington State rounding out the 6-boat final.

"Our guys had perhaps their best race of the year in the final," said head coach Bart Thompson. "They had a fantastic start and were in the lead after 200 meters. They fought tooth and nail with Santa Clara and OCC all the way down the course."

Thompson also reflected on the crew's resilience, saying, "We had another week in which we only had 1 day in our race lineup due to illness. They also had a backstay bolt break off with 400 meters to go. Considering the challenge that creates, they handled the situation well."

The Freshman Four fought tooth and nail throughout their heat, locked in a tight battle for 2nd with UC Davis and Western Washington. UC Davis moved out with about 500 meters to go, leaving the Toreros battling with Western Washington all the way to the line for 3rd. The Toreros won the fight, finishing 1.2 seconds behind WWU to qualify for the B Final.

In the afternoon's B Final, UC Irvine jumped out to a strong lead. Again, USD was in a tight race, this time for 2nd with UCLA. And again, the Toreros prevailed, finishing in 7:28.5, 0.5 seconds ahead of UCLA.

Thompson was ecstatic, saying, "These were the two best races of the year by our Freshman Four. They did a phenomenal job executing their race plan. They've been challenged by racing non-novice crews all spring, and it paid off today with two very tight wins in both the heat and the final. I'm so proud of their progress this year."

The Toreros now turn their focus to their conference championship, the Western Sprints. Held in conjunction with the West Coast Conference Championships for the women's programs, the event will determine which crews from the WS progress to the IRA National Championships.

Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships
Lineup: 1st Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Kaleb Griffin
Stroke: Sam Pigott 
Seven: Jacob Corfey
Six: Rex Bales
Five: Quinn Schweitzer
Four: Aidan Andrzejewski
Three: Julian Fairbanks
Two: Derek Hissong
Bow: Gavin McLaren

Lineup: Freshman Four
Stroke: Kacen Hamada
Three: Konstantinos Selk Anagnos
Two: Michael Muncey
Bow: Cullen Pow
Coxswain: Conor Fox
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Players Mentioned

Jacob Corfey

Jacob Corfey

6' 3"
Sophomore
Julian Fairbanks

Julian Fairbanks

5' 10"
Junior
Derek Hissong

Derek Hissong

6' 1"
Sophomore
Gavin McLaren

Gavin McLaren

5' 11"
Junior
Aidan Andrzejewski

Aidan Andrzejewski

6' 3"
Freshman
Rex Bales

Rex Bales

6' 4"
Freshman
Conor Fox

Conor Fox

COX
5' 7"
Freshman
Kaleb Griffin

Kaleb Griffin

COX
5' 10"
Freshman
Kacen Hamada

Kacen Hamada

5' 11"
Freshman
Michael Muncey

Michael Muncey

6' 1"
Freshman
Cullen Pow

Cullen Pow

5' 8"
Freshman
Quinn Schweitzer

Quinn Schweitzer

6' 5"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jacob Corfey

Jacob Corfey

6' 3"
Sophomore
Julian Fairbanks

Julian Fairbanks

5' 10"
Junior
Derek Hissong

Derek Hissong

6' 1"
Sophomore
Gavin McLaren

Gavin McLaren

5' 11"
Junior
Aidan Andrzejewski

Aidan Andrzejewski

6' 3"
Freshman
Rex Bales

Rex Bales

6' 4"
Freshman
Conor Fox

Conor Fox

5' 7"
Freshman
COX
Kaleb Griffin

Kaleb Griffin

5' 10"
Freshman
COX
Kacen Hamada

Kacen Hamada

5' 11"
Freshman
Michael Muncey

Michael Muncey

6' 1"
Freshman
Cullen Pow

Cullen Pow

5' 8"
Freshman
Quinn Schweitzer

Quinn Schweitzer

6' 5"
Freshman