ROWING CONCLUDES SEASON WITH THIRD PLACE FINISH IN THE PETITE FINAL AT THE PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS
5/17/2009
GOLD RIVER, Calif. -- Sacramento State’s women’s varsity eight concluded its season with a third-place finish in the petite final of the Pacific-10 Conference Women’s Rowing Championships on a hot Sunday afternoon at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma.
The Hornets’ third-place time of 6:44.3 over 2,000 meters in the varsity eight petite final trailed UCLA (6:40.0) and Gonzaga (6:44.0), and finished ahead of Saint Mary’s (6:51.3) and UC Davis (6:56.8). Gonzaga and Sacramento State, which finished first and second, respectively in the varsity eight grand final at the WIRA Championships two weeks ago, battled each other throughout today’s race. In fact, neither boat led the other by more than 1.25 seconds during the entire 2,000 meters before the Bulldogs finally won by the slimmest of margins (three-tenths of a second).
With temperatures soaring above 100 degrees throughout the afternoon session, Stanford won the women’s varsity eight grand final with an impressive time of 6:18.6, followed by Cal (6:22.0), Oregon State (6:29.4), Washington (6:29.6), USC (6:36.2) and Washington State (6:42.5). The Pac-10 team title went to Cal, which along with their second-place finish in the varsity eight grand final, also finished first in the second varsity eight and varsity four grand finals, and second in the novice eight grand final. Cal has now won five Pac-10 women’s team titles in the last six years (2004-06, 2008-09).
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 women’s rowing institutions (Cal, Washington State, Stanford, Oregon State, Washington, UCLA and USC; Oregon is a club crew).
The Pac-10’s mark the conclusion 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 this Tuesday, May 19.
Sacramento State fielded boats in the varsity eight, second varsity eight and novice eight competitions. Each of the Hornets’ three boats reached the petite final of their respective events, with the Hornets’ second varsity eight and novice eight both finishing third in their races.
"I thought all of our crews rowed hard today and competed well even though we may not have gotten the results we wanted," Sacramento State head coach Mike Connors said. "The novice eight broke seven minutes for the first time this year and almost took out (N8 WIRA Champion) Gonzaga.
"For the varsity eight, it was another gallant effort and heartbreaking loss. Both our varsity eight and second varsity eight finished within one length of UCLA, so we are getting closer to reaching one of our goals (beating a Pac-10 school). Despite many challenges this year, we gained a lot of great race experience that will really help us for next year. We lose a good amount of seniors, but there is a solid core of varsity and a number of talented young rowers that will help move the program forward next year."
The top three boats in each of the morning’s qualifying heats advanced to this afternoon’s grand finals while places 4-5 in each qualifying heat reached the petite finals. Sacramento State finished fifth in its varsity eight heat, fifth in the second varsity eight heat and fourth in the novice eight heat. Sacramento State’s race results can be found below and complete results from every race can be found by clicking on the link above the story.
Sacramento State’s season comes to a close today. In dual meets this year, the Hornets’ varsity eight finished the year 10-4, the second varsity eight was 3-7, and the novice eight finished 7-3. Highlights from the season include Sacramento State winning the WIRA team title for the third time in four years, punctuated by the varsity eight winning a silver medal at the conference championship event. The Hornets’ varsity eight also defeated Causeway rival UC Davis to win the Jean Runyon Cup for the 10th time in 13 years, and in the process, clinched the Causeway Cup championship for Sacramento State. Next season, the Hornets return all but three rowers (Anne Morrison, Alicia Tarkenton and Megan Riggs) from today’s varsity eight lineup.
NOVICE EIGHT (Heat 2)
1. Oregon State 6:52.5
2. Washington State 6:55.9
3. Stanford 6:58.0
4. Sacramento State 7:09.4
5. Oregon 7:45.5
NOVICE EIGHT PETITE FINAL
1. UC Davis 6:57.1
2. Gonzaga 6:58.6
3. Sacramento State 6:59.1
4. Oregon 7:39.4
SECOND VARSITY EIGHT PETITE FINAL
1. Gonzaga 6:52.9
2. UCLA 7:01.0
3. Sacramento State 7:04.7
4. Saint Mary’s 7:27.3
VARSITY EIGHT PETITE FINAL
1. UCLA 6:40.0
2. Gonzaga 6:44.0
3. Sacramento State 6:44.3
4. Saint Mary’s 6:51.3
5. UC Davis 6:56.8
GOLD RIVER, Calif. -- Sacramento State’s women’s varsity eight concluded its season with a third-place finish in the petite final of the Pacific-10 Conference Women’s Rowing Championships on a hot Sunday afternoon at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma.
