April 21, 2012

NEWPORT BEACH - Competing for the first time since their Centennial Celebration meet on March 10, the LMU men's rowing team had a solid showing at the Parker Cup in Newport Beach Saturday.

The Lions beat out UC Irvine and San Diego State on their way to winning the varsity eight race while also battling to a close second in the junior varsity eight.

"It was a great morning of racing for LMU," said assistant coach Tom Paradiso. "The varsity 8+ had a solid race against UCI and SDSU. They were able to get off the line very well at the start and took control of the race early. UCI never backed off, chasing us down the course. With the advantage of being up off the start, we were able to see and respond to UCI's race tactics and finished a little over two seconds ahead."

LMU's winning time in the varsity eight was 5:50.2 followed by the Anteaters in 5:52.9. San Diego State was third in 6:23.7. The Lions' junior varsity eight finished in a time of 6:03.8 just behind UCI in 5:54.0.

"Our JV8+ had a good race even with the second place finish" Paradiso said. "The majority of that boat was novice rowers in their first spring season of racing going up against varsity level athletes from a big program. They were not able to match speed with UCI but were aggressive the whole way down the course.

"I thought they raced well today, and we will go into our last week of training before WIRA with a positive mental attitude."

The Lion men will join their female counterparts on Lake Natoma for the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships on Saturday and Sunday, April 28-29.

LMU RESULTS/LINEUPS

Varsity 8+
LMU - 5:50.2
UC Irvine - 5:52.9
San Diego State - 6:23.7
LMU Lineup: Jen Sonnier (cox), stroke to bow - Glen Akiona, Brendan Henderson, Robert Thames, Michael Morehart, Jovan Flores, Mark Laurence, Bo BreitReed, Brett Buettner

Junior Varsity 8+
UC Irvine - 5:54.0
LMU - 6:03.8
LMU Lineup: Allie Shorin (cox) , stroke to bow - Jeremy Burke, Robert Brennan, Lenny Turcios, Caleb Nyberg, Kory Griffin, Theo Jacobson, Jordan Lang, Chris Wonder