Over the weekend, the UCSD women’s crew raced against rivals Long Beach State and UC Berkeley lightweights at Tecolote Shores in Mission Bay. On March 8, UCSD raced seven boats in four races against Long Beach: a lightweight eight, novice lightweight four, novice eight and varsity eight. The Tritons won the novice eight race, but the 49ers defeated them in the other three. The next day, UCSD raced against lightweight teams from both Long Beach and Berkeley in four races: a varsity eight, novice eight, varsity four and novice four. UCSD came in third, second, third and third, respectively.

“”I was pleased that our stroke rating is coming up naturally, but still below our competitors,”” said UCSD head coach Pattie Pinkerton. “”This means more speed for us when we do bring up the rating in training.””

Lightweight eight, which included both a varsity and novice team, was the first race for the women. Long Beach State came in first with a time of 7:26.6. San Diego’s A boat, the varsity boat, came in at 7:37.8, and the B boat came in at 8:16.17.

The varsity boat included Melanie Kaelberer, Claire Doyle, Liz Record, Stephanie Wuerz, Tess Kornifield, Emily Gray, Jen Watters, Liz Jones and coxswain Claire Romelfanger.

“”Our novice lightweights joined the race for experience in preparation [for Sunday’s race] and did a great job,”” Pinkerton said.

The lightweight boat included Jamaica Grace-Bishop, Lisa Dawson, Adrienne Cady, Arianna Pilram, Becky Gianotti, Lauren Ruiz, Dannan Hodge, Whitney Wilson and coxswain Phoebe Lee.

In the second race, the Long Beach lightweight four defeated UCSD with a time of 8:25.53 against 8:35.6. UCSD kept pace with Long Beach for the first half, but fell behind in the second.

Tritons’ Lee, Wuerz, Kaelberer, Gianotti and Cady competed in this race.

The third race would bring the biggest margin of victory on the day, which evened the score after a big loss last year. The Tritons came in at 7:25, beating the 49ers by 17.9 seconds (7:42.9). The time of the UCSD B boat, which came in third, was not recorded.

The winners of the race were Hodge, Ruiz, Meghan Kelly, Ashley Adams, Cara Kuebert, Kelly Rayome, Katie Morris, Megan McCarty and coxswain Jen Hildebrand. This team is 2-for-2 for this season, with both wins coming against Division I competitors.

“”It’s great to have another win under our belt to inspire us to keep pushing ourselves both mentally and physically,”” Hodge said.

The varsity eight raced last. Long Beach won the race with a time of 7:33.0, the UCSD A boat finished second (7:47.4) and the UCSD B boat finished third (8:14.8). UCSD’s lineup included Sara Patton, Morgan Dawirs, Amber Hopkins, Natalie Seitz, Alexis Kleckner, Sarah Smolley, Jen Hasty, Stefanie Barriere and coxswain Romelfanger.

The next day, lightweight boats from UCSD, Long Beach and Berkeley raced each other. The first race, the varsity eight, was very close between Cal and UCSD. Long Beach finished first at 7:51.8, and Cal finished second at 7:21.2, just six seconds before the Tritons. The UCSD lineup was the same as the day before.

In the novice eight race, only Berkeley and UCSD competed. The Golden Bears finished with 7:46.4, and UCSD, with the same lineup as March 8, finished at 7:54.84.

In the varsity four race, Long Beach finished first at 7.51.8, Berkeley’s B boat came in second at 7.59.1, UCSD finished next at 8.09.1 and the Golden Bear A boat finished 8.31.4. UCSD was leading the race, but unfortunately was not able to hold on the entire race. The UCSD boat consisted of Record, Jones, Jen Watters, Emily Gray and coxswain Doyle.

The last race was the novice four. Long Beach finished first (8:20.8), the Cal A boat next (8:26.4), UCSD third (8:28.0) and the Cal B boat last (9:22.3). UCSD’s lineup was Lee, Wuerz, Kornfield, Gianotti and Kaelberer.

“”One Saturday, this crew was 10 seconds behind Long Beach, on Sunday, they improved their form and closed within seven seconds,”” Pinkerton said. “”We improve with every race, and that is the goal of the early racing.””

The next regatta, The Berg Cup Invitational, will take place March 22.

“”We all are anxious and excited for Berg Cup, and only hope for the best!”” Hildebrand said.