ROWING TO HOST PCRC’s AND PAC-10’s THIS WEEKEND
5/15/2008
A Look at the Regattas
• The Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif., is the site of the annual Pacific Coast Rowing Championships (PCRC's) on Saturday, May 17, and the Pacific-10 Conference Championships on Sunday, May 18.
• Saturday's regatta, the PCRC's, is open to all schools and clubs in the West Region, which includes any rowing institution located in the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado and Arizona. A total of 15 schools will be represented at the regatta which offers individual championships in every collegiate rowing category not offered in Sunday's Pac-10 Championships. The event is scheduled to begin at 9:10 a.m. and will run until approximately 4:30 p.m. The Sacramento State women will compete in the collegiate novice four (12:50 p.m.) and open four (3:20 a.m.). Both of Sacramento State's races are finals with no heats taking place beforehand.
• Sunday's regatta, the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, is limited to the top 21 entrants for each event in the West Region, which includes each of the seven women's Pac-10 rowing institutions (Cal, Washington State, Stanford, Oregon State, Washington, UCLA and USC). The Pac-10's offer races in the varsity eight, second varsity eight, novice eight and varsity four categories. The event is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. and will run until approximately 3:10 p.m. There will be a break from 9:20 a.m. until 1:10 p.m. If years past at the Pac-10 Championships are any indication, the top four or five finishers in the varsity eight grand final will likely be selected to compete in the NCAA Championships at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center on May 30-June 1. The women's varsity eight will feature two qualifying heats (8:40 a.m., 8:50 a.m.) with the top three in each heat advancing to the grand final at 3 p.m. Places four, five and six in each of the two qualifying heats will advance to the petite final (1:40 p.m.). There will be no third-level final.
• Each of the 11 institutions in the women's varsity eight competition on Sunday were seeded and placed into the qualifying heats accordingly. Seeds one through 11 are as follows: 1-Cal, 2-Washington, 3-Stanford, 4-USC, 5-Oregon State, 6-Washington, 7-UCLA, 8-Gonzaga, 9-Western Washington, 10-UC Davis and 11-Sacramento State.
Top-ranked Cal, Washington State (No. 4), Stanford (No. 10), USC (No. 12), Oregon State (No. 14), Washington (No. 15) and UCLA (No. 20) are currently ranked in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/USRowing top 20.
Sacramento State, whose qualifying heat is scheduled for 8:50 a.m. and features Washington State, Stanford, Washington, UCLA and UC Davis, needs to finish at least third to advance to the grand final. Four members of the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (Gonzaga, Western Washington, UC Davis and Sacramento State) will compete for the varsity eight title, with Gonzaga receiving the highest seed among the four programs.
• 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 Tuesday, May 20.
• Race times for Sacramento State's women's schedule at Sunday's Pac-10 Championships are 8:30 a.m. (second varsity eight heat), 8:50 a.m. (varsity eight heat) and 9:00 a.m. (novice eight heat). Each of the petite and grand finals will take place between 1:10 and 3:10 p.m. Sacramento State will attempt to reach the varsity eight grand final for the first time since 2000.
• For the seventh straight year, the NCAA will sanction a separate championship for the Div. I, II and III levels at the NCAA Championships. A total of 16 schools will advance to this year's NCAA Div. I Championship, with the top 12 teams (varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four) in the country, and four at-large varsity eight boats advancing to the regatta.
