May 9, 2001
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.
Thanks to Sacramento State Media Relations
