April 22, 2008

Los Angeles, CA (UWIRE) -- After a day of smooth sailing, the Women of Troy were in for a rude awakening Sunday morning.

The USC women's rowing team won all of its races Saturday at the Stanford Invitational, but in the regatta's first race Sunday morning, No. 10 Stanford's varsity eight upset No. 6 USC by 4 seconds.

But USC's second eight and four then defeated Stanford and the team finished the event with eight wins against just one loss.

USC head coach Zenon Babraj was encouraged by the success of the second eight and the four, but was puzzled by the varsity eight's Sunday performance.

"We have the athletes, we're just having difficulty finding the lineup that clicks," the sixth-year coach said.

USC led the Cardinal for the first 500 meters of the varsity race before a move by Stanford went unanswered. The Cardinal built a one-length lead and USC never recovered.

The Women of Troy's varsity eight handled Central Florida by 9 seconds and dominated the University of Victoria (Canada) by almost 30 seconds Saturday.

"The day before, maybe racing all those weaker crews gave them the wrong impression that they could just row the first 500 meters and [they would win]," Babraj said of his varsity rowers.

Senior Ligita Kaviere was more direct in assessing the crew's performance.

"It's embarrassing and a huge mistake," she said.

The second eight began the weekend by beating Central Florida by 18 seconds and followed that performance with an impressive 24-second win over Santa Clara's varsity crew Saturday afternoon.

But unlike its varsity teammates, USC's second crew would not be denied against Stanford, as its` time of 6:47.60 was about two boat-lengths clear of the Cardinal, who finished in 6:53.12.

The newly formed four-person boat made a successful debut for the Women of Troy as well. USC cruised to three victories over Central Florida, Victoria and Stanford.

"It was amazing to have open water on all three teams," junior co-captain Nichole Fischbach said.

With four weeks remaining before the Pac-10 Championships, Babraj thought this weekend would clear up the group of varsity eight contenders at the top of the conference, but exactly the opposite happened.

USC has now beaten and lost to Stanford.

The Women of Troy finished ahead of Washington State at the San Diego Crew Classic on April 5-6, but unlike USC, the Cougars beat the Cardinal this weekend.

Washington, who defeated USC, Washington State and Stanford in San Diego, lost its second dual race in as many weeks, this time to unranked Oregon State.

And the team that is ranked No. 1 in the United States, California, has raced exclusively out of conference all season.

Kaviere tried to make sense of it all.

"I think it means that we have to work really hard for the last month we have here," she said. "We made a mistake and I believe we're going to go down in the rankings, but we are a fast team, and we hope to show everyone."

After two more weeks of training, USC and UCLA will square off in San Pedro, Calif., and the outcome might decide which school wins the Lexus Gauntlet, the annual award given to the better athletic program.

The prospect of rowing taking center stage in the crosstown rivalry appeals to the athletes.

"We know that it counts for the Gauntlet and that makes it even more exciting," Fischbach said. "UCLA is good competition for us and it will be good racing for all our boats."

(C) 2008 Daily Trojan via UWIRE