A Look at the Events
* The CSUS Aquatic Center - a program of Associated Students, Inc. -
on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif., is the site of the annual
Pacific Coast Rowing Championships (PCRC) on Saturday, May 12, and
the Pac-10 Conference Championships on Sunday, May 13.
* Saturday's regatta, the PCRC's, is open to all schools in the West
Region, which includes any rowing institution located in the states
of Washington, Oregon, California and Colorado. Roughly 21 schools
will be represented at the regatta which offers individual category
championships in every collegiate rowing category. The event is
scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. and run until 4:50 p.m. Sacramento State
will compete in only the lightweight four competition.
* Sunday's regatta, the Pac-10 Conference Championships, is limited
to the top 21 entrants for each event in the West Region, which
includes each of the seven Pac-10 institutions (Washington,
Washington State, USC, Oregon State, Cal, Stanford and Gonzaga). The
Pac-10's offer races in the varsity eight, second varsity eight,
varsity four and the novice eight categories. The event is scheduled
to begin at 8 a.m. and run until 3 p.m. According to Sacramento State
head coach Bill Zack, the top three finishers in the varsity eight
grand final should be selected to compete in the NCAA Championships
on May 25-27 at Lake Lanier, Georgia. The women's varsity eight will
feature three qualifying heats with the top two in each heat
advancing to the grand final at 2:40 p.m. Places three and four in
each of the three qualifying heats will advance to the petite final
(2:20 p.m.) and places five and six will advance to the third level
final (2 p.m.).
* Each of the 20 institutions in the women's varsity eight on Sunday
were seeded and placed into the qualifying heats accordingly. Seeds
one through 10 are as follows: 1-USC, 2-Washington, 3-Cal,
4-Washington State, 5-Oregon State, 6-Stanford, 7-Sacramento State,
8-UC Davis, 9-Western Washington, 10-San Diego State. Sacramento
State, whose qualifying heat is scheduled for 9:40 a.m. and features
both USC and Stanford among others, needs to finish at least second
to advance to the grand final.
* The Pac-10's will mark the end of the women's rowing regular
season. Since the advent of the NCAA Championships in 1997, holding
the Pac-10's on the final weekend allows the selection committee to
compare virtually all the West Coast (Pac-10 and non Pac-10) crews
under comparable race conditions. With no time standard to meet,
boats competing in the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships will be
named by a selection committee two days after the Pac-10's, on May 15.
The Hornets' varsity eight, which was crowned Western
Intercollegiate Rowing Association champions for the
second-consecutive year on April 28, will have to finish as high as
third in the grand final to have a chance at the NCAA's, according to
Zack. Sacramento State's varsity eight lineup for Sunday will be as
follows: Katie Summy at bow, Alicia Weber at the two seat, Veronica
Karpinski at three, Erika Bracy at four, Tammy Forbes at five, Megan
Warren at six, Megan Spitze at seven, Mieke Boynton at stroke and
Breanne Hart at coxswain. The second varsity eight and the novice
eight will also be competing at the Pac-10s for the Hornets.
* The 2001 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships will stay with the same
format it used in 2000. A total of 15 Div. I and four non-Div. I
schools participate in the regatta. The top 10 Div. I teams (varsity
eight, second varsity eight and varsity four) in the country will be
selected to the NCAA's along with the remaining top five varsity
eights.
