Women’s crew bests Northwest rivals
The UCSD’s women’s varsity crew team gave a solid performance at the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Championships on Washington’s Lake Vancouver on April 3, competing against top-ranked Western Washington and Humboldt State. The results indicated that the Tritons belong in the same class.
“The varsity … raced the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked Division II crews in the country — they finished second and third at last year’s Nationals, behind UC Davis, which has moved into Division I,” head coach Patti Pinkerton said. “We had a very good regatta.”
The UCSD eight was second, narrowly edged by No. 1 Western Washington, but seven seconds clear of Humboldt State.
“We were very happy with our racing, and we understroked Humboldt State all the way down the course, so we think as we continue to raise our rating in training, we should open the gap,” Pinkerton said.
The varsity eight boat was coxed by senior Claire Romelfanger and also included junior stroke Sarah Smolley, seniors Liz Jones and Chelsea Smith, junior Liz Record and sophomores Cara Kuebert, Liz Ruiz, Meghan Kelly and Dannan Hodge.
The team lifted its stroke rating to 33 from 31 in the past few races and beat the second-ranked Humboldt State by two seconds, which is equal to nearly a boat length.
“We believe we need to begin our sprint home earlier so we can close further,” Pinkerton said.
Although the varsity four was third behind Humboldt State and Western Washington, racing in tandem with the other two schools most of the way, it was still unable to keep pace in the sprint to the finish line.
“The results from this race should move us into national ranking, so we are waiting to see what the polls say,” Pinkerton said.
Despite their strong efforts, the Tritons do not plan on resting on their laurels yet; instead, the team is more focused on improvement to stay competitive and have a better season.
“We will continue to work on our speedwork for the upcoming races … to get faster and beat Western Washington,” senior Jennifer Watters said.
Western Washington and Humboldt State, the top-ranked varsity eights in the latest Division II poll, were the second- and third-place finishers, respectively, at the 2003 NCAA Championship.
The solid, positive results on April 3 bode particularly well for the key regattas scheduled in the next month and a half, and the choice to skip this year’s San Diego Crew Classic may prove beneficial for future season developments.
“We are pleased, after several regattas where other crews have over-rated us, to see that we can bring up the rating and be competitive,” Pinkerton said.
Women’s crew will square off against Division I cross-town rivals University of San Diego and San Diego State in two weeks at the annual San Diego City Championships, which will be held on April 17 at Mission Bay’s Tecolote course.
