March 31, 2007

San Diego, CA - The Saint Mary's women's rowing team got off to a good start on the first day of the San Diego Crew Classic. The Gaels had two boats competing in the event, and both the varsity eight and the second varsity eight both advanced to the finals on Sunday.

The varsity eight won the first heat of the day in the Sam Adams/Mesa Distributing Cup with a time of 7:06.88 in the 2000-meter race. The Gaels advance to Sunday's Cal Cup Grand Final as the boat of coxswain Kate Shalvoy and rowers Lindsey Anderson Michelle Grima, Sandra Pichelli, Johanna Timmer, Sierra Timmer, Jennifer Tyndall, Sunsie Haro, and Ally Oldfield will look to bring home a gold medal.

The second varsity eight advanced to the petite final in the open eight competition. The Gaels boat, which was driven by coxswain Amber Oosman, finished third in its heat with a time of 8:06.69, and crossed the line behind USC and UCLA and less than one second ahead of Stanford. The Gaels' time is the fastest of the six teams that will compete for the Carley Copley Petite Final Cup on Sunday. The second varsity eight was rowed by Linzey Simonson, Jennifer Morrison, Whitney Medved, Alexxa Kilby, Lexi Billo, Kristine Myhre, Kyla Tom, and Ariel Elia.

Saturday San Diego Crew Classic Results
Women's Cal Cup (Heat 1)
1 Saint Mary's, 7:05.88
2 St Joseph's, 7:07.70
3 Villanova, 7:17.20
4 UCSB, 7:22.68
5 Sonoma St., 7:35.46
6 Arizona St., 7:39.63

Carley Copley Cup (Heat 1)
Women's Open A
1 USC, 7:41.40
2 UCLA, 7:57.83
3 Saint Mary's, 8:06.69
4 Stanford, 8:06.90
5 Santa Clara, 8:12.74
6 Lake Union, 8:51.83
7 LARC, 9:00.40