SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Sacramento State women's rowing team will

serve as host of the 24-school Western Intercollegiate Rowing

Association (WIRA) Championships this Saturday, April 28, on Lake

Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif.

Saturday's regatta will consist of 45 races (23 on the women's side,

22 on the men's side), beginning at 8 a.m. and continuing to

approximately 6:15 p.m. Admission to the regatta is free.

The women's varsity eight competition will begin with three heats

from noon until 12:20 p.m. with the grand final beginning at 6 p.m. A

total of 17 schools will compete for the varsity eight championship

including No. 1 seed San Diego State, No. 2 Western Washington, No. 3

Gonzaga, No. 4 University of San Diego, No. 5 Sacramento State, No. 6

UC Davis, No. 7 Loyola Marymount, No. 8 UC Irvine, No. 9 UC Santa

Barbara, No. 10 Pacific Lutheran, No. 11 Humboldt State, No. 12

Willamette, No. 13 Santa Clara, No. 14 Long Beach State, No. 15 UC

San Diego, No. 16 Chapman and No. 17 Lewis and Clark.

Sacramento State, which won last year's varsity eight championship by

more than five seconds, will look to defend its title. UC Davis

finished second in last year's grand final followed by San Diego

State, Colorado, Western Washington and UC Santa Barbara,

respectively.