SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Vanessa Tavalero, who spent last year as a volunteer assistant with the Hornets and the past two seasons coaching the Capital Crew novice squads, was named assistant rowing coach at Sacramento State, it was announced today by Hornet head coach Mike Connors.
Tavalero will coach the Hornets’ novice crew and assist in all aspects of recruiting. The Sacramento native coached Capital Crew’s men’s novice squad last year, and the team’s women’s novice squad in 2005-06. Capital Crew is a junior rowing organization that is based out of the Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma.
At the Southwest Junior Rowing Championships last May, she coached Capital Crew’s men’s novice squad to a bronze medal in the eight. In addition, the team’s second novice eight also won a bronze medal, and the novice four took home a silver. At the 2006 Southwest Junior Championships, Tavalero coached the women’s Capital Crew novice squad to silver medals in both the novice four and novice freshmen four competitions. The novice eight and second novice eight both placed fourth in their respective races at the regatta.
“I am very pleased that Vanessa has joined our coaching staff,” Connors said. “Her experience at one of the top rowing programs in the country and her national team background will be invaluable in aiding our program’s continued development.
“With her experience coaching Capital Crew, she is very familiar with Lake Natoma and the greater Sacramento area, allowing her to make an easy transition to coaching at the collegiate level.”
As a student-athlete, Tavalero competed at rowing powerhouse Washington from 1997-00. A three-year member of the varsity eight, she helped the Huskies to an NCAA national team championship in 1998 and four straight Pacific-10 Conference championships. She sat in the two seat for the 1998 Washington varsity eight which placed first at the national championships, and also sat in the five seat for the Huskies’ varsity eight which placed fifth at the event in 1999 and second in 2000.
Washington was an NCAA Championships participant all four years of her career, including national team championships in 1997 and 1998, a runner-up finish in 2000, and a fifth place finish in 1999. During the 1997 season, she helped the varsity four to a silver medal at the national championships.
She was also a member of the USRowing Under-23 National Team Camp in the summers of 1998 and 1999, and trained under former United States National Team Coach Hartmut Buschbacher.
A 2001 graduate of Washington with a degree in art, she also competed for Capital Crew from 1992-96 prior to rowing collegiately.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Vanessa Tavalero, who spent last year as a volunteer assistant with the Hornets and the past two seasons coaching the Capital Crew novice squads, was named assistant rowing coach at Sacramento State, it was announced today by Hornet head coach 
