Alabama Women, Cal Men Open Spring Racing with Victories

Alabama swept Eastern Michigan and the Cal heavyweight men swept the Redwood Shores Invitational on the first weekend of March, as spring racing gets underway in California and the South.

Alabama raced four women’s varsity eights and Eastern Michigan raced three in five, seven-boat, 2,000-meter races. Alabama’s “A” boat won all seven pieces on a day the Crimson Tide honored its senior class.

“It was a wonderful morning on the Black Warrior River and there was an amazing crowd on Manderson Landing,” said Alabama head coach Glenn Putyrae. “We are really proud of how all of our crews raced, and we are very grateful to have an opportunity to celebrate a great group of seniors.”

Cal swept all races against Drexel and UCSD on Saturday and San Diego and Santa Clara on Sunday in headwind conditions at Redwood Shores, using the early-season regatta to test different line-ups.

“I think it was a really productive weekend of racing,” said Cal head coach Scott Frandsen. “All the different variations of the crews went out and raced well and learned a lot. So I’m really happy that in some challenging conditions, the crews all represented themselves really well.”

Cal races next at the San Diego Crew Classic, March 29-30. Alabama’s next race will be the 13th Annual Oak Ridge Cardinal Invite, hosted by the University of Louisville, in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

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