In the men's race Gonzaga used a steady pace over the 2,000 meter course to finish second in their heat with a time of 6:17.17. The Bulldogs rowers finished three seconds behind heat winner Massachusetts, but had enough distance to cruise in ahead of third place Washington State which pulled a 6:22.06 time. Orange Coast College won the opening heat of the day with a 6:07.7 time while Western Washington won the final first day heat with a 6:19.30. The top two teams in each heat advanced to the Cal Cup Grand Final. Last year Gonzaga finished third in the Cal Cup Grand Final.

In the women's race Gonzaga followed the men's pattern with a steady pace to finish second in their heat with a time of 7:03.23. Gonzaga finished three seconds behind heat winner Kansas State but was maintained a three second advantage over the third place boat from Villanova. Duke posted the fastest women's Cal Cup time winning their heat in 6:51.80. Massachusetts won the other heat with a time of 6:58.37. The top two teams in each heat advanced to the Cal Cup Grand Final. Last year Gonzaga finished fifth in the Cal Cup Grand Final.

Gonzaga's men's varsity eight consisted of Nat Hopper, Mike Baisch, Justin Toenes, Mark Vorhees, Brad Hughes, Dave Johnson, Ben Foley, Jeff Kiely and coxswain Andrea Eberle.

Gonzaga's women's varsity eight consisted of Nickie Lustig, Alexis Skipitis, Bridget Troy, Maria Bokulich, Cynthia Savoca, Christine McKeown, Jennie Gilpin, Breah Niemiec and coxswain Courtney Haase.