March 30, 2008

Saturday Results
Sunday Results

Palo Alto, CA - The LMU women's lightweight 8 posted a seven-second victory over MIT Sunday morning to end the Pac-10 Challenge sponsored by Windermere Real Estate with a victory. In Saturday's action at Redwood Shores in Palo Alto, the Lions were on the tail end of head-to-head races with national powers Princeton and Stanford.

On Saturday, LMU kicked off the weekend action by taking on Princeton, the runners-up in last year's Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships. In LMU's toughest race of the season so far, the Tigers showed that they are again strong this season, finishing in 7:14.40 to LMU's 7:30.50.

After breaking during the rest of the morning sessions, the Lions returned to the water for the afternoon session against hosts Stanford. The wind had picked up during the break, forcing the teams to row into a stiff headwind and choppy conditions. This resulted in slower times but LMU stayed tight with the Cardinal for the first half but the hosts pulled away over the final 500m, emerging victorious in a time of 7:44.57 while LMU completed the course in 7:55.49.

LMU's lineup for the first two races consisted of Candice Matheny at coxswain, with Larissa Meltz, Courtney Bannerman, Talya Courtney, Jen Glassman, Liz LaLonde, Kathryn Maloney, Jill Austin, and Mary Foster at positions 1-through-8.

The Lions regrouped and reshuffled the lineup on Sunday morning to finish the weekend on a winning note. MIT had edged LMU by 4.8 seconds last year at the national championships but the Lions were able to jump out to an early one-length lead, which they expanded for a seven-second win, 7:32.21 to 7:39.99.

LMU's lineup vs. MIT was much younger as they tried to give more members competition experience. Larissa Meltz stayed in the bow with Alex Lee getting the call behind her. Liz LaLonde went in #3, Courtney Bannerman was fourth, Jill Austin in fifth, Jen Glassman in sixth, Talya Courtney in seventh, and Mary Foster in the stroke seat.

"Overall, it was a great weekend of racing for us," Women's Varsity Coach Sara-Mai Conway said. "We executed some things really well but we're also returning home with a list of things to work on. We have a great mix of senior leadership and young talent. It's been exciting to see the development over the year and we look forward to continued growth over the next few months."

The Lions travel south to the San Diego Crew Classic next weekend.