The UCSD women’s crew team performed well on March 7 at the California Lightweights competition at Mission Bay despite facing stiff competition from the University of San Diego and San Diego State.
The varsity eight competition saw USD in the lead, timing in at 7 minutes, 28 seconds and SDSU taking second by crossing the line in 7:35.5, while UCSD, timing in at 7:48, managed to capture third place.
“The varsity came off with San Diego State, staying with them the first 1,000 meters, while understroking them,” UCSD head coach Patti Pinkerton said.
UCSD’s varsity team saw a shuffling of its stroke in the competition. Since the team was missing its usual stroke, senior Tess Kornfield, sophomore Lauren Ruiz, who stroked the winning varsity four last week, stepped in to stroke the lightweight crew.
“I was very pleased about this,” Pinkerton said. “Many of [SDSU’s] lightweights are from last year’s undefeated lightweight crew. We are still early in our speedwork, so we’ll be bringing the rating up.”
The varsity crew made its lightweight debut in the match. The boat was comprised of coxswain Phoebe Lee, Ruiz, Mel Kaelberer, Dannon Hodge and Ariana Pilram, all sophomores, as well as seniors Liz Jones and Chelsea Smith. The multi-talented Pilram doubles as a rower.
The varsity women were joined by novice freshmen rowers Megan Hagquist, the novice captain, and Audrey Koniges.
“[Hagquist and Koniges] had only rowed with us in that lineup twice, and they did an excellent job of adapting,” Jones said.
UCSD also entered a novice eight team, which took a respectable second place. USD was first, timing in at 8:12, while UCSD closely followed, crossing the line in 8:17.
“The novice lightweights lost a length off the start, but came back at USD by the 1,000-meter mark stroked by Shannon Sapper,” Pinkerton said. “They rowed a really gutsy race, pulling back to USD, only to lose a length when USD took the rating up for the final sprint. Our novices raised the rating, but we haven’t trained at that rate, so [they] aren’t quite as comfortable.”
The meet was an excellent learning experience for the Tritons.
“It was our first lightweight event of the season, and I feel like we learned a lot from it,” Jones said.
However, UCSD was not the only newcomer to the complexities of lightweight competition.
“USD was the surprise performer,” Pinkerton said. “They have not raced lightweights in the past.”
USD did have heavier women than what is usually allowed at lightweight crew competitions, but there were no weigh-ins. Lightweight crews are generally comprised of athletes that weigh under 130 pounds, but since the season is still early, coaches do permit a “winter weight” of up to 135 pounds.
Nonetheless, USD’s learning curve was notable, consistently pushing past the competition, while UCSD tried its best to speed up and catch USD.
“In both the varsity and the novice lightweight eights, USD came out of the blocks at a much higher stroke rating, gaining a length right off the start,” Pinkerton said.
To prepare for the meet, the coach moved the crews into lightweight boats, pulling them out of the other boats, and did drill work and speedwork to get them moving together.
“In sports like this, racing is all about seeing how much farther you can push yourself after your body has already told you to stop because it hurts, so a lot of our preparation is mental,” Jones said.
For UCSD, the California Lightweights competition was a prime opportunity to judge its lightweight speed, but the meet was unusual for the Tritons.
“When we race against most schools, they don’t have lightweights, so the lightweights are mixed in with the first and second boats,” Pinkerton said.
UCSD’s lightweights will be racing eights at the San Diego Crew Classic, the San Diego City Championships and the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Champ-ionships.
Pinkerton further remarked about the possibility that UCSD will double the lightweight contingent into fours at the Northwestern Collegiate Rowing Championships after they race in the open varsity events.
“The big thing about this race is that it gives us some data when we decide which events to target for the WIRA Championships,” Pinkerton said.
The Tritons will next be racing Long Beach State on March 14, which is traditionally one of the more competitive races for the Tritons.
“We are still underrating the Southern California crews, so that might be an issue,” Pinkerton said. “We expect them to come out of the start a little faster, but if we maintain our poise, I believe we will be very competitive.”
