As a final tune up before the Pac-12 and NCAA Championships, the defending NCAA champs Cal Women’s Rowing will race rival Stanford in the annual Big Row on Saturday morning from Redwood Shores.
Expect Cal dominance in the V8+ while the 2V8+ and V4+ could be quite close, but that’s not really the main focus at the annual Big Row has been transformed into a celebration of former Cal coxswain Jill Costello who bravely battled lung cancer but still passed away back in 2010 at age 22.
On the season, Cal V8+ boat has stayed undefeated.
Bears won both the Jessop-Whittier Cup for winning the San Diego Crew Classic as well as retains the Simpson Cup (annual dual against UW) for the 6th straight year for beating Washington, Cal’s main competition again for the NCAA team title, twice.