April 18, 2010

Sacramento, Calif. - Saturday's racing was all about improving times but Sunday was all about results as LMU's three boats swept to victory on the final day of the NorCal/SoCal Challenge at Lake Sacramento. The Lions rowed to wins in the varsity eight, second varsity eight, and novice four in the final tune-up before the West Coast Conference Championships in two weeks.

After finishing second in both of Saturday's races despite dropping 17 seconds off of its time from race one to race two, the second varsity eight gained its first victory of the weekend Sunday morning. Facing off against WCC foe Saint Mary's, LMU recorded its slowest time of the weekend, 7:18.9, but it was enough to cruise past the Gaels (7:47.5) by almost half a minute.

The winning vibes continued in the novice four boat, who had not raced on Saturday. LMU's boat was again almost a half-minute ahead of the competition, crossing the line in 8:19.28 to UC Davis' 8:46.94.

The weekend concluded with the varsity eight boat in a prelude to the WCC Championships. The Lions again put on a strong showing with a time of 7:02.48, 13 seconds in front of Saint Mary's (7:15.01).

LMU takes on the rest of the WCC at the conference's championships on May 1 on Lake Natoma in Sacramento.