Virginia fans are accustomed to having championship caliber squads competing in the spring. The Virginia rowing team is no different in that regard. They won the national championship back in the spring of 2010, finished sixth in the nation last year and are the top-ranked team this year.
The Cavaliers are coming off an outstanding performance at the Oak Ridge Invitational in Oak Ridge, TN two weekends ago. Virginia won 18 races over the two days. That sounds impressive enough by itself, but what is even more impressive is that they only didn't win one race that they competed in. The second varsity fours came in second to host Tennessee on Sunday.
This weekend, the crew team is headed to Mission Bay in San Diego for the San Diego Crew Classic. This is a huge event with more than 100 schools and rowing clubs racing to the finish line. Among those schools are Virginia's top competitors: #2 Cal, #5 Stanford, #6 USC and #8 Washington. Clearly an opportunity for the 'Hoos to show why they're ranked at the top of the list for 2012.
Competition in San Diego starts at 10am ET on Saturday, but Virginia's boats won't take to the water until around noon. For those that are interested, the event will be streamed live online at the Sand Diego Crew Classic website.