Blue Devil rowing finishes in 7th in San Diego Crew Classic

Competing in one of the nation's premier rowing events, the San Diego Crew Classic on Mission Bay, the Duke rowing team finished in seventh place with a time of 6:46.51.

The Blue Devils competed in the Jessop-Whittier Cup Heat A against some of the best crew teams in the country, including the classic's eventual winner, Washington. The Huskies dominated the field, winning the event by eight seconds over its closest competition with a time of 6:26.03.

The second-place finisher, California concluded the race in 6:34.26, while Notre Dame finished in third only moments after the Golden Bears, registering a time of 6:34.70. Texas, Stanford, and Oregon State were among the other teams that finished ahead of the Blue Devils.

Despite her team's seventh-place finish, Blue Devil coach Robyn Horner was pleased with Duke's performance, especially because it signified a marked improvement from the team's last-place finish last year in San Diego.

"We see the San Diego Crew Classic as a chance to race against a lot of the teams that are in the top 30," Horner said. "Last year, we entered the same events and pretty much finished up last in all of the events. This year, we stepped up a little bit and beat a couple more teams.

"We're still at a stage where we're continuing to develop and trying to go after some of those top-ranked teams. I think [the San Diego event] gives us a good opportunity to see where we stand."

However, the San Diego Crew Classic is hardly the last of the Blue Devils' championship-level races. After a weekend of rest, Duke returns to action at the Southern Intercollegiate race, where it will face a number of schools with traditionally comparable teams, including North Carolina, Tulsa and Kansas State. Then, after this race, the Blue Devils will prepare for the all-important ACC rowing race.

"I think our team is going to have to step up and race hard," Horner said. "Looking at Southerns, there's a number of teams that are all in the same ballpark.... It's going to be a real dogfight."