2024 PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Before UW, Cal and Stanford leave next year to inject some serious competition into the Big Ten and ACC Championships, we have one more Pac-12 Championship at Lake Natoma. For several years this competition has been at Dexter Lake in Oregon, but many Stanford alums remember this race under many different names in the Sacramento area, and this is where the final installment will take place.
The #2 Stanford Openweight Women will take on #4 Cal, #8 Washington, #17 Washington State, USC, Oregon State and UCLA. Based on the latest CMAX rankings we’re excited to see them compete for another title and continue progress toward their rematch with Texas at NCAAs.
The #13 Stanford Men will compete against #2 Washington, #4 Cal, #21 Oregon State and possibly Washington State. For the mens’ side, CMAXactually has the Bears and Huskies’ ranks reversed, so it should be an interesting race. Stanford’s upside will be on display as they continue to fine-tune the 4-5 freshmen they’ve had in the 1V8+ for the season, even swapping athletes from the 2V8+. We know last year they may have overtaken UW if it had been a slightly longer course, say 2,250 meters, so we’re excited to see possibly another dark horse moment!
After a great dual meet against BU, the #3 Stanford Lightweight Women are focused practicing for their rematch against #1 Princeton at the IRA Championships.
Please click on the links below, particular the live stream which will show the races starting noon Eastern / 9am Pacific on Sunday May 19th.
Pac-12 Championship live stream (navigate to rowing)
GO STANFORD ROWING!
RESULTS
Both the #2 Stanford Openweight Women and the #13 Stanford Men headed to Sacramento this weekend for the final Pac-12 Rowing Championship, before heading next year to the ACC Conference. While we don’t know the schedule for next year, it is highly likely that while the conference might disperse, midseason races against the teams at this event will likely continue in some form in the future.
The Stanford Women completely swept the event by serious margins in every boat category (5 total!), three-peating the “final and forever” Pac-12 title. The smallest margin was still about a boat length, and the rest were even wider. This was a great win over #4 Cal and #8 UW, and hopefully a great confidence-builder in their NCAA rematch. With the win, Stanford is automatically qualified for NCAAs. On the East Coast, #3 Princeton won the Ivy League title, and so far is the only other team that might push Stanford’s 1V8+ a little.
Also, at the race, Belle Battistoni ’24 was named the fourth straight Cardinal to earn the conference's highest academic honor, the Pac-12 Women’s Rowing Scholar Athlete of the Year, making Stanford the first school in Pac-12 women's rowing history to have four straight honorees. Belle rowed Bow Seat in the 1V8+ Pac-12 victory. Congratulations, Belle!
Belle Battistoni – scholar of the year
The #13 Stanford Men came into the event fielding three boats – two eights and a four – the largest squad they’ve had at the race in recent history. With a team of 4-5 freshmen in the 1V8+, having graduated some elite seniors like Peter Chatain ‘23, and with a grudge match between #2 UW and #4 Cal, this was going to be a tough race. In the end, the 1V8+ and 2V8+ earned bronze medals, and the two boats had a comparable margin compared to first-place UW, which meant the 2V8+ has shown some improvement from 2023. It is hard to tell how this result compares with East Coast teams. #6 Brown upset #1 Princeton at the Eastern Sprints by less than a 100th of a second, also beating #3 Harvard so we know the field is very competitive. We’re excited to see how the very young Stanford team progresses in this rebuilding year toward IRAs.
GO STANFORD ROWING!
