ROWING TO HOST PCRC’s AND PAC-10’s THIS WEEKEND
5/14/2009
A Look at the Regattas
• The Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif., is the site of this year's annual Pacific Coast Rowing Championships (PCRC's) on Saturday, May 16, and the Pacific-10 Conference Championships on Sunday, May 17.
• 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 14 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 3:20 p.m. The Sacramento State women will be competing in the collegiate novice four (11:50 a.m.) event.
• 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; Oregon is club status). 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 3:30 p.m. There will be a break from 9:20 a.m. until 1:10 p.m. Most likely, the top four or five finishers in the team points at the event will have a good chance of being selected to compete in the NCAA Championships, which will take place May 29-31 on Cooper River in Camden, N.J. The women's varsity eight will feature two qualifying heats (8:40 a.m., 8:50 a.m.) with the top three boats in each heat advancing to the grand final at 3:20 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-Stanford, 2-Cal, 3-Washington, 4-USC, 5-Oregon State, 6-Washington State, 7-UCLA, 8-Gonzaga, 9-Sacramento State, 10-Saint Mary's and 11-UC Davis.
Top-ranked Stanford's varsity eight along with Cal (No. 2), Washington (No. 9), USC (No. 12), Oregon State (No. 13), Washington State (No. 15) and UCLA (No. 20) are each currently ranked in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/USRowing top 20.
Sacramento State, whose qualifying heat is scheduled for 8:40 a.m. and features Stanford, USC, Oregon State and Gonzaga, needs to finish at least third to advance to the grand final. Four members of the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (Sacramento State, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and UC Davis) will compete in the varsity eight event, with Gonzaga receiving the highest seed among the four programs. Sacramento State won the WIRA team title two weeks ago, while Gonzaga won the varsity eight championship.
• 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 19, at 2 p.m. PDT.
• Race times for Sacramento State's women's schedule at Sunday's Pac-10 Championships are 8:20 a.m. (second varsity eight heat), 8:40 a.m. (varsity eight heat) and 9:10 a.m. (novice eight heat). Each of the petite and grand finals will take place between 1:10 and 3:30 p.m. Sacramento State will attempt to reach the varsity eight grand final for the first time since 2000.
• For the eighth 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 each team required to field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers.
