The UCSD women’s crew team met Division I foe UC Irvine at Newport Harbor, Calif., with results that were decisively favorable to UCSD in their early stages of competition.

“[The meet] went really well,” senior varsity racer Jen Watters said. “Each boat had a really strong race. Our coach was very pleased with all of our races.”

The UCSD women’s varsity four boat outran UCI by almost a full minute. UCSD came in at 8 minutes, 40.02 seconds, leaving UCI in the dust. UCI took its time to arrive at the finish and finally managed to cross the finish in a time of 9:35.80.

“The varsity four crushed Irvine … [the team] won with several boat-lengths of open water,” Watters said.

The varsity four team was undoubtedly the standout of the meet, composed of junior Anne Roddy and sophomores Phoebe Lee, Lauren Ruiz, Meghan Kelly and Dannon Hodge.

The first women’s varsity eight race saw UCI beat UCSD with UCI coming in at 6:59.0, followed by the UCSD boat, which came in at 7:21.3.

Despite this minor setback, it is worth noting that UCI had more speed training appropriate for races than UCSD had prior to the meet.

“Irvine starts their speedwork training before we do, so it’s always nice to beat them this early in the season,” Watters said.

The second women’s varsity eight competition saw UCSD defeat UCI by almost four seconds. UCSD crossed the line at 7:33.8, while UCI lagged behind, timing in at 7:37.5.

Relatively pleasant racing conditions prevailed, with all races running against an increasing outgoing tide with flat water and no wind.

To prepare for this meet and the other major races that will follow, the Tritons recently started their speedwork training for the racing season.

After this important victory over UC Irvine, the team has strong expectations for their next meet.

“We should do well against Long Beach, especially since both of our varsity boats are very strong and competitive,” Watters said.

UCSD women’s crew will be back in action in the March 7 California Lightweights competition at Mission Bay.