May 3, 2011
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. - LMU's Bo BreitReed and Kyle Hutchison claimed their second straight Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship over the weekend, lifting the Lions to their third consecutive men's pairs WIRA title and fourth in five years. Their performance highlighted a strong showing from the LMU men, who also placed second in the lightweight four.
A year ago, BreitReed, a junior from Tucson, Ariz., and Hutchison, a senior from Emerald Hills, Calif., gained their first WIRA title after finishing second in the preliminary heat before storming to victory in the final by dropping their time by nearly 30 seconds. This year, they earned back-to-back titles by shaving 20 seconds off their heat time. On Saturday, the LMU pair posted the fastest time of the two heats, finishing in 7:38.3, a mere 1.7 seconds ahead of Sacramento State in 7:40.0. UCLA placed third in 7:44.9, with Chapman fourth in 7:47.9 and Cal fifth in 7:48.4.
In Sunday's Grand Final, BreitReed and Hutchison rowed home in 7:19.6, a time that was 17 seconds faster than their winning time from 2010. The pair would need every second of it, though, as UCLA placed second in 7:21.8. Sacramento State (7:28.2) was third, followed by Pacific (7:36.4), Santa Clara (7:36.8), and Humboldt State (7:37.6). Their victory gave LMU four wins in the men's pairs in the last five years. BreitReed and Hutchison claimed the titles in 2011 and 2010, following in the footsteps of
Patrick Callan and
Brandon Sorbom in 2009 and
David Cronin and
Scott Wike in 2007.
On the heels of LMU's men's pairs win, the men's lightweight four took home a silver medal with a tight finish. The Lions battled Cal for the entire race but the Bears edged out the Lions by 1.7 seconds at the line, taking first in 6:55.6 to LMU's 6:57.3. Washington State placed third in 7:02.2, UC Davis was fourth in 7:06.8, and Oregon was fifth in 7:26.2. The boat featured Evan Yates, Brett Buettner, Jes Bickhart, Kawai Akiona, and was coxed by Sam DeMeyer.
LMU's third boat that competed over the weekend was the novice eight, which placed second in the Third Final after finishing fifth in its heat. The Lions were able to drop nearly 50 seconds off of their heat time in the Third Final to hold off third-place Long Beach State by eight-tenths of a second.
WIRA Championships
Lake Natoma (Rancho Cordova, California)
| Men's Novice 8 Heat 2: |
| 1. | Orange Coast College | 6:33.8 |
| 2. | UC Santa Barbara | 6:44.1 |
| 3. | Colorado | 6:54.1 |
| 4. | Santa Clara | 7:00.6 |
| 5. | LMU | 8:09.3 |
| 6. | Chapman | 8:11.2 |
| | |
| Men's Pairs Heat 1: |
| 1. | LMU | 7:38.3 |
| 2. | Sacramento State | 7:40.0 |
| 3. | UCLA | 7:44.9 |
| 4. | Chapman | 7:47.9 |
| 5. | Cal | 7:48.4 |
| | |
| Men's Novice 8 Third Final: |
| 1. | UC Irvine | 7:04.5 |
| 2. | LMU | 7:18.9 |
| 3. | Long Beach State | 7:19.7 |
| 4. | Chapman | 7:23.5 |
| 5. | Puget Sound | 7:53.7 |
| | |
| Sunday, May 1, 2011 |
| Men's Pairs Grand Final: |
| 1. | LMU | 7:19.6 |
| 2. | UCLA | 7:21.8 |
| 3. | Sacramento State | 7:28.2 |
| 4. | Pacific | 7:36.4 |
| 5. | Santa Clara | 7:36.8 |
| 6. | Humboldt State | 7:37.6 |
| | |
| Men's Lightweight Four Grand Final: |
| 1. | Cal | 6:55.6 |
| 2. | LMU | 6:57.3 |
| 3. | Washington State | 7:02.2 |
| 4. | UC Davis | 7:06.8 |
| 5. | Oregon | 7:26.2 |
| 6. | Pacific | 7:30.9 |
| 7. | UOP | 7:35.2 |
- GO LIONS -
