WEST OF SACRAMENTO, Calif. – UC Davis’ varsity eight defeated Sacramento State with a winning time of 6:44.68 over 2,000 meters in women’s rowing action Saturday morning at the Port of Sacramento.
Both schools’ varsity eight boats compete annually for the Jean Runyon Cup, and the rivalry had been lopsided in Sacramento State’s favor prior to the last two years. The Aggies’ varsity eight has now knocked off the Hornets back-to-back years after Sacramento State had won the Cup eight consecutive seasons (1999-06). The Hornets still lead the all-time series, 9-3, as the two programs began racing for the Jean Runyon Cup in 1997.
The Aggies had roughly a seven-second lead midway through the race before pulling away at the end to win by nearly 11 seconds. Sacramento State finished the race with a time of 6:55.57. Today’s Jean Runyon Cup also marked the final competition in the Causeway Cup, the annual all-sports challenge between UC Davis and Sacramento State. UC Davis had already clinched the Causeway Cup championship, snapping the Hornets’ run of two straight Causeway Cup titles. The Causeway series is now tied between the two schools, 2-2, as UC Davis won the inaugural Cup in 2005, before the Hornets won in 2006 and 2007.
UC Davis was also victorious in the second varsity eight competition for the second straight year, racing to a winning time of 7:03.42, ahead of the Hornets’ time of 7:07.70.
The Aggies made it a clean sweep in the eights races as the team’s novice eight posted a winning time of 7:16.91, followed by Sacramento State (7:19.62) and UC Davis B (7:32.49).
The Hornets’ varsity eight is now 5-2 in dual meets this year, while the second varsity eight dropped to 5-1, and the novice eight fell to 4-2.
Sacramento State posted a win in the varsity four competition, racing to a victorious time of 7:34.07, followed by UC Davis A (7:36.36), UC Davis B (7:56.88) and Sacramento State B (8:07.04).
In the novice four, UC Davis raced to a winning time of 7:55.64, followed by the Hornets’ time of 8:14.35.
Sacramento State returns to the water for its conference championships next weekend (May 3-4) when it hosts the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships on Lake Natoma. The Hornets have won each of the last two WIRA team titles, and the varsity eight crown in 2006.
