LIGHTS 2024 SPRING SEASON RECAP
SAN DIEGO CREW CLASSIC
The No. 3 Cardinal Lights came away from 2024's first weekend of competition with a first-place finish in the Cal Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic. The Card took a second-place finish in the preliminary heat with a time of 7:00.537, narrowly trailing UC San Diego's leading time of 6:59.150. On Sunday, Stanford came out ahead of UCSD and Old Dominion with a 6:54.553 time. UCSD was just two seconds behind at 6:56.750.
CLASS OF ‘15 CUP
No. 4 Cardinal Lights hosted the No. 1 Princton Tigers, with the varsity four winning by over nine seconds with a time of 7:37.49. The Stanford eight trailed Princeton 6:43.67 to 6:50.15, and the double finishing just under two seconds behind the Tigers with a time of 7:58.87.
WISCONSIN DUAL
The No. 4 Cardinal Lights topped No. 6 Wisconsin, sweeping the eight, four and double races each by over six seconds. The varsity eight won their race by over 10 seconds, and the four won by over 17. The double was the closest of the day, with Stanford winning by over six seconds.
WIRA CHAMPIONSHIPS
No. 4 Stanford Lights took first place in the varsity eight, varsity four and double at this weekend's WIRA Championships. The Cardinal swept all three races in the prelim heats, advancing to Sunday's finals. The varsity eight final was the Card's closest finish of the weekend, still at over five seconds.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY DUAL
On their quest to challenge Princeton for the IRA national championship, the #4 Stanford Lightweight Women were again up against the higher ranked #3 Boston University Terriers. Last year they traveled to the Charles River and the 1V8+ upset BU in a very strong showing, with a nice ESPN+ live stream. This year the situation was remarkably similar, except that BU would be coming to Redwood Shores (unfortunately no live stream this time). Having east-west lightweight races like this are very special for all programs due to the spread-out nature of the top institutions. In this installation of the rivalry, Stanford was once again victorious, this time by nearly 15 seconds!
Note that the rankings for Lightweight Women and for Heavyweight Men are for 1V8+, since that determines the national champion, so this was a very significant win and will position Stanford in the top 3. The smaller boats finished second to BU but note that those margins can be larger than eights. Given the way the IRA selects champions, this was overall a great result for the program.
IRA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Stanford Lightweight Women had one of their best IRAs since the pandemic, reaching second-place in total team points. The 1V2x, the smallest of the boats and a unique pivot from sweep to sculling, placed its highest since 2021, earning 4th place amid a tight range of times. The W1V4+ earned the gold medal for its event, their best showing since 2019, dominating the race from start to finish! And finally, the 1V8+ claimed the silver medal, beating #2 Radcliffe, and almost chased down #1 Princeton in the final 500m! They made up a lot of ground from the midseason race against the Tigers.
