By Bobby Pragada on April 3, 2018

Over the weekend, Stanford’s No. 1 ranked women’s lightweight rowing team and No. 10 ranked women’s rowing team hosted regattas at Redwood Shores, as they continued their 2018 campaigns. Both teams found success in their matchups, taking several key wins against ranked opponents.

The lightweight team hosted their first dual meet of the season, facing off against No. 3 ranked Princeton in a contest of top seeds. Racing on their home course, the Cardinal boats took two out of three total races against the Tigers.

The day started with the Cardinal’s top ranked varsity eight boat delivering a convincing defeat to Princeton’s eight, taking the course in 6:30.96 to the Tigers’ 6:43.79. The women’s lightweight four boat also claimed victory, winning with a time of 7:23.22, nearly 20 seconds ahead of Princeton’s 7:41.92. The Tigers claimed a single victory in the double, narrowly taking down the Cardinal boat with a time of 7:41.15 to Stanford’s 7:48.12.

Meanwhile, on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, the women’s rowing team hosted the annual Pac-12 Challenge, welcoming Louisville, No. 18 Michigan State, No. 17 Iowa, No. 12 USC and No. 2 Cal to Redwood Shores.

On Saturday, the Stanford women dominated the field, winning six of seven races on the day. Three of those wins came against Louisville, as the Cardinal claimed all three head-to-head races against the Cardinal. They won the first varsity eight with a time of 6:23.61, the second varsity eight with a time of 6:31.70 (winning the race by 25 seconds) and the varsity four with a time of 7:15.87.

The Cardinal also raced in a series of head-to-head matches against Iowa, taking down the Hawkeyes in all three races. The first varsity eight improved upon their earlier time, posting a 6:15.8, defeating the Hawkeye boat coming in at 6:22.2. The second varsity eight and the varsity four also showed improvement in their second races, posting times of 6:28.9 and 7:21.9 respectively.

The only loss of the day came at the hands of the Golden Bears, as Stanford’s second varsity four boat fell to Cal, which posted an incredible 7:06.58 to the Cardinal’s 7:28.77.

The action continued on Sunday when the Cardinal concluded the regatta with another series of three head-to-head races against Michigan State. The Stanford women took down the Spartans in all three races to end the weekend on a high note, with times of 6:23.1, 6:37.6, and 7:23.9 for the first varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four, respectively.

The women’s lightweight team returns to action on April 7, when they travel to Boston for a dual meet against BU, while the women’s rowing team will row again on April 14-15 at the Lake Natoma Invitational in Gold River.