SAN DIEGO — The No. 13 Wisconsin women's rowing team officially opened the spring season on Saturday, and the Badgers opened some eyes in the process at the San Diego Crew Classic.

Wisconsin's varsity eight boat raced to the top time in the Jessop-Whittier Cup preliminary heats, posting a time faster than three teams ranked ahead of it, including No. 2 California, to advance to Sunday's Grand Final.

Then in UW's second race of the day, the second varsity eight put up the second-fastest time in a field of 20, just eight seconds off from the Golden Bears, to lock up its place in the Second Varsity Eight Grand Final.

"We had a really good first day," UW head coach Bebe Bryans said. "It was what we knew we could do, and so it just turned out that we ended up being pretty fast doing that relative to other people. So that was pretty exciting."

Wisconsin's first place finish in heat A of the Jessop-Whittier Cup came down to the wire, as it just edged Cal in a time of 6:36.342. The Badgers finish was mere hundredths of a second better than the Golden Bears, which finished in 6:36.392. No. 11 Washington State was a distant third in 6:44.302.

Between both heats Wisconsin was a little more than a hundredth of a second faster than 14th-ranked Southern California, which posted the second-fastest time of the day, at 6:36.354. No. 9 Texas, second in heat B, posted the fourth fastest time of the day in 6:41.140. 

In the second varsity eight race, Wisconsin went head to head with Cal again, taking second behind the Golden Bears in a time of 6:48.585.

California finished less than 10 seconds ahead of UW in 6:40.747 to take first in the heat and first overall. Texas won heat B in a time of 6:50.498, winning by five seconds over Gonzaga. USC won heat C in 6:58.275.

"I think for the coaches, we were really confident that we were going to see the crew that we've been seeing for awhile now, and they absolutely did that," Bryans said. "Both boats performed the way we hoped that they would and the way we knew that they would."

With the top finish in the prelims, Wisconsin's varsity eight boat secures the top lane and one of eight spots in Sunday's Jessop-Whittier Cup Grand Final. UW will race against seven other boats in that grand final, including USC, Cal, Texas, Washington State, UCLA, Gonzaga and San Diego. San Diego is the only one of those teams not currently ranked in the top 20 of the CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll.

UW's second varsity eight will race as one of six boats in the Second Varsity Eight Grand Final on Sunday after posting the second-best time on Saturday. The other five boats in that race are all ranked in the top 20, with Cal, Texas, USC, Gonzaga and Washington State joining UW in that grand final.

"The team is excited about tomorrow. We're in a good spot," Bryans said. "Both boats are in the grand final, which is where you need to be to win, so we're going out tomorrow to just race our hearts out, have fun and see where that lands us."  

San Diego Crew Classic
April 2, 2016
Mission Bay
San Diego
2000 meters
 
Women's Collegiate Varsity Jessop-Whittier Cup
Heat A
1. Wisconsin, 6:36.342; 2. California, 6:36.392; 3. Washington State, 6:44.302; 4. Gonzaga, 6:46.376; 5. British Columbia, 6:53.946
 
Heat B
1. USC, 6:36.354; 2. Texas, 6:41.140; 3. UCLA, 6:41.444; 4. San Diego, 6:43.624; 5. University of Victoria, 6:48.706
 
UW lineup
Coxswain Lily Hansen, Maria Schmid, Hannah Schwartz, Anna Knutson, Lexi Silverling, Madeleine Wanamaker, Gillian Cooper, Brianna Dahm, Kaitlin McKeogh
 
Women's Collegiate Second Varsity Eight
Heat A
1. California, 6:40.747; 2. Wisconsin, 6:48.585; 3. San Diego, 6:54.483; 4. Sacramento State, 7:10.185; 5. San Diego State, 7:10.977; 6. UC San Diego, 7:29.937; 7. Portland, 7:32.221;
 
Heat B
1. Texas, 6:50.498; 2. Gonzaga, 6:55.836; 3. UCLA, 6:58.164; 4. Kansas State, 7:13.456; 5. Miami, 7:19.462; 6. Saint Marys, 7:39.400; 7. Humboldt State, 7:49.460
 
Heat C
1. USC, 6:58.275; 2. Washington State, 6:59.439; 3. Tennessee, 7:03.183; 4. British Columbia, 7:09.985; 5. Fordham, 7:24.914; 6. Loyola Marymount, 7:27.754;
 
UW Lineup
Coxswain Katherine Condon, Gabby Simons, Megan Whitehouse, Cheyenne Brandt, Dani Steinberg, Maren Schultz, Margo Grover, Marissa Gibson, Andrea French