Videos Of The Week: Pac-12 Coaches on Strength in Numbers, Highlights from the Ivy League, ACC, Big 12 Rowing Championships

Pac-12 fans lining the shores of Lake Natoma (Photo: B. Kitch)
This week's videos come to us from across the good ol' US of A, from the 2015 Pac-12 Rowing Championships in Sacramento, California, to the Ivy League Rowing Championships, held on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to the ACC Championships in South Carolina, to Big 12s in Tennessee.



While the West Coast saw no less than four of the nation's top seven women's teams in action at Pac-12s, there was no dearth of top-end speed at the Ivy League Championships, either. Lake Natoma saw first-year head coach Al Acosta lead his Golden Bears to a Pac-12 title, continuing their undefeated season in the varsity eight, while Brown led the way ahead of RR no. 10 Yale, and RR no. 8 Princeton (respectively) en route to a league title and a berth for the big dance.



On the men's side, it was a remarkable turnaround for the Washington Huskies that stole the show, sealing their sixth-straight Pac-12 title with a four-second victory over California (remember—the Golden Bears had defeated Washington in Seattle by roughly three seconds in the Dual just a few short weeks ago). And, on the East Coast, the Yale men won Eastern Sprints for the first time since 1982—an event that, well, we kind of predicted four and a half years ago—ahead of a surging Northeastern crew and third-place Princeton (and with Brown just one tenth of a second off the podium).



Meanwhile, the Virginia Cavaliers were busy claiming their sixth consecutive ACC title on Lake Hartwell in Clemson, ahead of Notre Dame and Syracuse. The Cavaliers, who suffered a close loss to Washington at the Windermere Cup Regatta in Seattle earlier this month, bounced back in style, sweeping ACCs and punching their ticket for the NCAA Championships in impressive fashion.



Looking to the South, Texas dominated the Big 12 Championships in Dave O'Neill's first year at the helm, and, impressively, will enter the NCAA Championships this year with a chance to really make waves, after missing the dance altogether last season. Like their counterparts at UVa, the Longhorns swept all their finals en route to victory, and continued their strong season that began with an impressive early showing at San Diego Crew Classic in March.

Suffice it to say, it was a big weekend in rowing—yes, even bigger than we can fit into one Video Of The Week post! More reaction and analysis to come this week right here on RR, with the final rankings yet to be released as we head into the buildup for the national championships, from ACRAs, to IRAs, to NCAAs.

Keep it locked!

-RR

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