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As the 2000 season winds down, the pace has been picking up for the Berkeley High girls varsity crew, which competed in its first race in two weeks at Oakland Estuary Sunday, in a tri-meet with Pacific and Serra/Notre Dame/Mercy, a combined squad.  

Having already defeated both crews this season, the ’Jackets entered the varsity-8 race confident in the outcome, and managed to outrun their closest competitors – Serra/Notre Dame/Mercy – by more than 10 seconds. The first-place finish sends the BHS crew into May 20’s state championships with the momentum of two consecutive victories – the other occurring at Sacramento’s River City Invitational on April 22.  

“It was a fast course today (because of) the tailwind,” said Berkeley High girls coach Molly Mugnolo, whose varsity-8 squad rowed a 6:50 to come away with the triumph on its home course. “We’re practicing our race plans, really tuning up for the state championships. I felt our plans were effective (on Sunday).” 

The Yellowjackets hope to parlay their recent success into a top-three finish at the state meet, taking place in two weekends at Lake Natoma in Folsom. Though Mugnolo expects the season’s final race – featuring Bay Area powerhouse St. Ignatius, plus 15 other crews – to be the most competitive of the year, she believes her team is peaking at the right time. 

“I think we’ve been rowing really strong the last month and a half,” the coach said. “We’re pretty confident in how we’ll do at state. Our goal is to get a medal, get first, second or third.” 

The Berkeley High boys varsity-8, also heading to Lake Natoma in two weeks, closed out its 2000 season with a second-place finish at Sunday’s tri-meet. Pacific won the boys’ race, edging the BHS boat by six seconds.