UC Irvine Crew Defeats USC in Cal Cup Final in San Diego

The UC Irvine men’s varsity eight crew, outrowed by more than three seconds in a morning heat, came back to defeat USC in the Cal Cup final of Saturday’s 14th annual San Diego Crew regatta on Mission Bay.

UC Irvine won its heat in 6:19.10 but appeared to be an underdog to USC going into the final. The Trojans had won their heat in 6:15.88.

USC logged a similar time in the Cal Cup final, but UCI improved by more than seven seconds for the victory. UCI’s winning time was 6:12.00. USC was second at 6:15.36, just ahead of UC Davis.

The victory earns UCI a berth in next year’s Copley Cup competition for the country’s top men’s varsity eight crews.

In the Copley Cup final, Harvard made it two victories in a row for the Ivy League. Penn had won the Cup in 1986, ending a three-year domination by Washington. Harvard (6:00.33) beat Washington by three seconds in the final, and Navy finished third.

In the Whittier Cup for women’s varsity eights, Washington rallied over the second half of the course to defeat Wisconsin, the defending national champion. Washington’s winning time was 6:44.60.

In the women’s Cal Cup competition, Cal State Long Beach won in 7:10.00, more than five seconds ahead of second-place UC Santa Barbara.