The Barometer Online

Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Cory Reed Oregon State's Varsity 8+ crew sits at No. 12 in the nation entering this weekends Columbus Invitational in Columbus, Ohio.

All three women's Oregon State boats rowed their way into the grand finals of the San Diego Crew Classic held in Mission Bay, Calif., on April 4 and 5.

Since the San Diego Classic, the Oregon State women's crew team has moved up in the polls from No. 18 to No. 12., and the team now shares the No. 12 spot with Washington State. Continuing to climb its way up the polls, Oregon State still has room for improvement. Stanford and Cal still loom No. 2 and No. 3 in the polls behind Yale. University of Washington and USC are the only other Pac-10 teams above Oregon State in the polls.

The Varsity 8+ crew competed in the Jessop-Whittier Cup final in San Diego. During the final, a lead on the Washington State Cougars turned into a fight for the fifth place finish. In the end, the Beavers pulled ahead for the finish in front the Cougars.

Oregon State's Junior Varsity 8+ finished in sixth place in the finals just seconds behind Notre Dame. The Novice 8+ boat had an excellent showing, coming in strong with a second place finish about two seconds behind Pac-10 opponent Washington.

Dual races in the Columbus Invitational are what the Beavers are up against this weekend at Ohio State. Oregon State's boats will all be racing twice on Saturday - once in the morning and again in the afternoon.

In the morning session, OSU will face No. 8 Ohio State, starting with the Novice 8+ boat at 9:40 a.m., followed by the Varsity 4+ boat at 10:30 and Junior Varsity 8+ at 11. Saturday morning will end with the Varsity 8+ boat racing at 11:30.

Competition resumes in the afternoon against No.5 Michigan State. Races begin at 1:30 p.m. and ends with the Varsity 8+ boat racing at 3:20.

Races will resume at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday against No. 4 Michigan. Races begin with Novice 8+ and will continue with Varsity 4+ at 10:20 and Junior Varsity 8+ at 10:50. The final race of the weekend for Oregon State will be the Varsity 8+ boat's race at 11:20.

Ohio State will be hosting a great competitive group of schools including Washington, Michigan State, Michigan, Bucknell and Oregon State at the Columbus Invitational. All are ranked above the Beavers in the polls, so it should be a very good competition and a chance for the Beavers to come out ahead and prove they are the better team.

Makenzie Marineau, sports writer

sports@dailybarometer.com

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