The Beach Takes Home the Gold at WIRA

Long Beach State Crew took home the gold medals for the Women’s Lightweight (LW) 4+ and bronze medals for the Women’s Lightweight (LW) 8+, in the 2010 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association’s Regional Championships (WIRA). The LW 8+ grand final took place Saturday afternoon in a race against Stanford University in the lead followed by Willamette. UC San Diego and Washington State trailed behind Long Beach State. The Beach finished with 7:56.

The grand finals continued Sunday morning with the LW 4+ taking an amazing win for the gold by a whole boat length and a half at 8:19.7 against Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, Willamette, Cal Berkeley, and Seattle University.

Our hats go off to the incredible coaches of these ladies, Daniel Harris and Victoria Draper. These top boats are likely on their way to the American Collegiate Rowing National Championships in Oklahoma City later this month.

Other top boats included the Women’s Novice 4+ and the Men’s Lightweight (LW) 4+, finishing sixth and fifth, respectively, in the western region.

It was an incredible weekend. We couldn’t ask for better weather, clear skies in the mid 70’s, with comparable winds. Many of our fans drove up to Sacramento to see us cross the finish line to show their Beach Pride. That’s definitely bleeding black and gold! We want to especially thank many Beach Crew parents that provided their generous hospitality for the team and staff: the Peterson Family, the Ramos Family, and the Jena Family. We also want to thank crew dad, John King, for all of his incredible photography. All of you make the experience a reality for our athletes.

Event Link: Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association

GO BEACH!