March 7, 2003

SAN DIEGO - The SDSU women's rowing team will begin its spring 2003 race season when UC Irvine plays host to the Parker Cup Regatta race between the Anteaters of UCI, the Loyola Marymount Lions and the Aztecs. The race will take place on Lido Channel in Newport Beach on Sunday morning.

The Aztecs are 7-1 in the Parker Cup Women's Varsity Eight competition under head coach Scott Steckel, dating back to 1995. Last season, the Aztecs split in four meets with LMU and swept all four meetings with UCI in the varsity eight.

The race marks the first competition of the season for all three schools.

"A lot of teams have not even been able to get on the water yet," said Steckel. "Because of the harsh winter weather some of the country has been facing, they are still relegated to the rowing machines at this point in the year, and here we are racing. San Diego is a great place to live, and to have year-round rowing available is like icing on the cake."

This year's Aztec squad is led by senior team captain Alicia Stuebner, novice captain Audrey Edney and lightweight captain Amanda Corvera. The team graduated two four-year athletes last season in Lauren McGirr and captain Leila Curtis, and also graduated one three-year and one two-year athlete in Kristina Karlsson and Stacey Nichols, respectively.

"We definitely have some big shoes to fill this year, but I am confident that this group is up to the challenge," said sophomore Brittany McMahon, who is slated to row the seven seat in the varsity eight this weekend.

"This race, along with the racing in Virginia, will be a good early season gage for our team," said Steckel. "We have a long season. We have been training hard and are really excited to begin racing to get a few races under our belts."

Following the Parker Cup, the team travels to Charlottesville, Va., to compete in two separate dual-meet races against the University of Virginia and the University of Delaware. The Aztecs test their early-season rowing prowess on consecutive weekends on the road prior to opening its home schedule on Mission Bay at the San Diego Crew Classic April 5-6.

For more information, or directions to the Newport Race site, contact assistant coach Jennifer Zebroski at 619-594-0759.

2003 Parker Cup Regatta Schedule
Sunday, March 9	Lido Channel, Newport, Calif.

Time          Event
7:29 a.m.     Women's Novice Four
7:45 a.m.     Men's Second Varsity Eight
8 a.m.        Men's Novice Eight
8:15 a.m.     Men's Varsity Eight
8:30 a.m.     Women's Second Varsity Eight
8:45 a.m.     Women's Varsity Eight
9 a.m.        Women's Novice Eight
9:15 a.m.     Men's Varsity Four
9:30 a.m.     Women's Varsity Four
10 a.m.       Awards Ceremony