The second-ranked Badger women’s lightweight rowing team defended its title in the collegiate lightweight eight grand final at the San Diego Crew Classic on Mission Bay, Sunday. The Badgers beat No. 1 and defending national champion Princeton in the first meeting of the season between the two rivals to take the crown.

The Badgers stroked to a time of 6:52.15 over the 2000-meter course for the victory. Second-place Princeton finished in 6:56.08. No. 13 UC-Santa Barbara crossed the line in third with a time of 7:11.64. Fourth-place Queens University, a school from Canada, posted a time of 7:19.68 to finish ahead of third-ranked Stanford. The Cardinal put in a time of 7:28.73. Cal-San Diego finished sixth in the grand final with a time of 7:35.12.

The race was run under sunny skies and with temperatures in the 60s. A stiff cross-tail wind made the start a challenge, but the Badgers overcame and raced to the victory.

The Badgers resume action next Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14 in Camden, N.J. Wisconsin will compete in the Knecht Cup on Saturday and the Villanova Invitational on Sunday. The Badgers will have a rematch against top-ranked Princeton and face No. 4 Villanova and No. 9 Radcliffe, among other schools, during the weekend.

?We were really happy with our performance today,? said head coach Maren LaLiberty. ?We executed our race plan and are now able to evaluate it for our upcoming regatta this weekend. The regatta today gave us an opportunity to see how we lined up against Princeton, as well as Queens and the new lightweight program from Stanford. Overall, it was another great day and a stepping stone toward a successful season.?