Stanford University’s lightweight rowing team will participate in the Eastern Sprints on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts, according to a May 1 announcement. The event is scheduled for Sunday, May 3 and will include all eight lightweight programs from the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges field.
The competition marks an important point in Stanford’s season as they face off against top teams from across the country. The Cardinal varsity eight recently recorded a win over No. 3 Boston University on April 25, finishing with a time of 7:01.2 and winning by more than eight seconds.
Earlier this season at the Big Ten Invite in Gold River, California, Stanford’s varsity eight posted its fastest time so far at 6:33.516 while racing against openweight programs. At home on Redwood Shores, Stanford faced No. 2 Princeton and secured a four-second victory in the V2+ event thanks to Maddy Dodge and Zadie Diniz.
The team’s first race of the year took place at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee against openweight boats where Stanford’s varsity eight kept pace with larger crews before finishing just five seconds behind third place in their heat. In November at the San Diego Fall Classic, Stanford’s varsity eight finished seventh overall and was ahead of twelve openweight teams despite being the only lightweight crew present.
In national rankings released April 28 by Pocock CRCA Polls, Stanford’s varsity eight moved up two spots to No. 5 while their four ranked seventh and pair ranked sixth nationally. Last year under associate head coach Lizzy Houston—now entering her third season—the program placed sixth at IRA National Championships with several underclassmen contributing strong performances.
Looking forward, Houston aims to build on last year’s results which included a runner-up finish for the team overall and a national title for Varsity Four plus (4+). The roster has been bolstered by seven freshmen joining this season along with new assistant coach Maecy Rickman.
