WOMEN’S CREW — The waters of Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova,
Calif. welcomed the Tritons over the weekend as UCSD’s varsity eight and
varsity four boats each seized first-place finishes during the first two days
of the NCAA National Championships, qualifying the Tritons for the Grand Final
on June 1 and presenting them with a good position to lay claim to the national
title. The championships, which began May 30, put UCSD’s varsity eight crew
against
and
crossed the finish line with a time of 7:02.89, never surrendered their first
place lead, forcing the Mercyhurst Lakers and the NSU Sharks to follow in
UCSD’s wake with times of 7:04.17 and 7:41.20, respectively. The victory marked
the first time ever that the Tritons advanced directly to the Grand Final.
The varsity eight squad includes junior coxswain Stephanie
Chang, senior Kelsey Thomas (stroke), senior co-captain Jen Myers (seven-seat),
senior co-captain Kali Webb (six), junior Alissa Kispersky (five), freshman
Denise Kleckner (four), junior Jill Peacock (three), senior Maureen Kantner
(two) and senior Kim Shaffer (bow). Myers and Chang were named to the
Division-II Pocock All-American Team on May 24, an honor that can be credited
to their leadership and key roles in piloting the squad to its fourth
consecutive NCAA postseason appearance.
With such distinguished members, the Triton’s first-place
finish comes with little surprise. According to Webb, the team’s success can be
attributed to the high level of confidence the rowers have in one another.
“When you’re at nationals, you know you’re competing with
the best of the best and that anything can happen,” she said. “You have to
trust that you are going to row the best you can and that the girls in the boat
are going to row their best with you.”
For Shaffer, who was recently named a 2008 Scholar Athlete,
the heat on May 30 marked one of team’s most triumphant races of the season.
“For our crew, it was one of the best sprints that we’ve
ever had,” she said. “It took us past Mercyhurst in the last several hundred
meters and that was the highpoint of our race.”
Mirroring the varsity eight’s explosive heat performance,
the varsity four crew also put in solid finishes during the first two days of
the NCAA National Championships, earning the rowers a thrilling final-day
battle. On May 30, the squad took second behind three-time defending champions
with a time of 8:11.29.
As part of the new system, the Vikings advanced to the final
race, leaving the Tritons to compete for a spot in the Grand Final by squaring
off in an eliminating race called a “repechage.” UCSD cruised to a wide
14-second victory and crossed the finish line with a time of 8:20.87 after
dominating the rest of the field.
“Our big competition is
freshman Kristen Hayashi said. “We were working really hard to push them away
the way we’ll do for
Today was a really good row to focus for [the finals].”
The Tritons’ final battle came on June 1, day three of the
national championships. At the peak of their season, the rowers were ready to
give it everything they had.
“I think we will need to have the race of our lives,” head
coach Pattie Pinkerton said before the final day of competition. “That’s
exactly what we would expect to need at this level of competition. The girls
had a great race on Friday, and both boats are ready to go out there and give
it their all tomorrow.”
In the end, however, the Tritons closed out their 2008
season as national runners-up to the Vikings of Western Washington in both the
varsity eight and varsity four races. During the varsity four Grand Final, the
Vikings grabbed an early lead to eventually take the gold with a time of
7:57.54.
The varsity eight Grand Final proved to be a closer battle,
as all four crews — Western Washington, Philadelphia University, Dowling
College and UCSD — each hit the 500-meter mark within three seconds. But the
Vikings pushed through the pack, forcing UCSD and
At the midway point, the Tritons trailed the Golden Lions by three seconds and
continued neck-and-neck pursuit. In the final 1,000 meters, UCSD exploded
toward the finish line with a time of 7:06.68 to trump Dowling’s 7:10.19.
“The cool part about it was that we went into the race and
we had a really great sprint at the last 1,000 meters,” Chang said. “We really
wanted to attack the first and second 500, and ultimately, we had the strongest
race this program has ever seen. This is probably the fastest boat this program
has ever had and that’s what makes it amazing. We were really going for Dowling
on our right side and we battled them throughout the race.Toward the end, we
opened up and really just crushed them.”
At the awards ceremony on June 1, the Tritons were announced
as the National Runners-Up and awarded two silver plaques, honors that add to
UCSD’s already established team history. Although the season ended with some
serious hardware, the Tritons are sad to see the season come to an end.
“It’s a bittersweet day for us because while it is the
crowning of our achievement, it’s also the last time that our seniors row for
UCSD,” Pinkerton said.
But with 11 of the 16 rowers on the championship roster
returning for the 2008-09 season, the future looks bright for UCSD.
“The seniors were really proud to set up something for the
girls who will come next,” Chang said. “We’ve set goals and broken records.
Every year we’ve done something that hasn’t been done before. As a team we’ve
set these records and for the girls returning next year, the sky’s the limit. I
know they can achieve anything they put their minds to.”
