March 28, 2008

SAN DIEGO -

Complete Release in PDF Format

SDSU CREW TRAVELS NORTH TO COMPETE AGAINST SACRAMENTO STATE, UC DAVIS
* After two weeks away from competition, the San Diego State rowing team heads back into the water for a pair of dual meets this weekend. Sacramento State hosts its race at Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, while UC Davis hosts its event at the Port of Sacramento.

The varsity eight race kicks the day off on Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m. The junior varsity race follows at 8 a.m., followed by the novice eight (9 a.m.) and varsity four (9:30 a.m.) races.

On Sunday against the Aggies, the varsity eight (8:30 a.m.) and junior varsity eight (8:45 a.m.) races get things going. The novice eight race follows at 9 a.m., while the second novice eight race and varsity four end the day's competition at 9:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., respectively.

Following this weekend's dual meets, the Aztecs will compete in the prest San Diego Crew Classic at Mission Bay on April 5-6.

FLASHBACK: 2007 AGAINST THE AGGIES, HORNETS
* The second novice eight boat took first in its respective race to lead the San Diego State rowers in a dual meet against UC Davis last March 10 (2007). The boat rowed to a time of 7:24.20, 0.76 seconds ahead of the Aggies (7:24.96).

The junior varsity eight race was also close until the 1,500-meter mark when UC Davis made a big move and held on over the final 500 meters to win by less than five seconds (6:55.50 to SDSU's 7:00.41).

In other races, the Aztecs finished second in the Varsity Eight (6:49.55 to 7:02.60), novice eight (7:10.03 to 7:13.08) and varsity four races (7:45.86 to 7:57.11).

The next day against Sacramento State, the Aztecs picked up a pair of wins in novice competition and came within a second in two other races. SDSU's novice eight boat finished the course in 7:08, five seconds ahead of the Hornets' (7:13) boat.

The Aztecs' novice four "A" boat won by the largest margin of the day, completing the course in 8:14, well ahead of Sacramento State's boat (8:31). SDSU's "B" boat was third in 8:41.

SDSU's junior varsity eight was nipped at the line by Sacramento State in what would be the closest race of the day. The Hornets' time of 6:51.65 narrowly beat the Aztecs' 6:51.70.

Another close race saw Sacramento State's varsity four boat beat the Aztecs' boat, 7:51.7 to 7:57.5, while in varsity eight action, SDSU's time of 6:53.3 was less than six seconds behind the Hornets' time of 6:47.7.

LAST RACE WITH THE AZTECS
* The San Diego State novice eight "A" boat took first for the second straight week to lead the Aztec rowers in a dual meet against UCLA on March 15. Four other boats competed for SDSU, including the varsity eight, second varsity eight, varsity four and the novice eight "B" boat.

In the novice event, San Diego State's "A" got off to a strong start but actually was a bit behind UCLA until it opened a late surge to end the race with a time of 6 minutes, 49.8 seconds, more than five seconds ahead of the Bruins (6:55). The impressive time was almost a minute ahead of last year's 7:44.3 clocking. SDSU's second novice eight boat rounded out the three-boat race with a time of 7:04.83.

The Aztecs had three varsity boats in action, as the varsity eight and second varsity eight each finished second, while the varsity four, which was comprised of all novices, was third.

In the varsity eight race, San Diego State got out to a good start, something it was lacking last race at the Parker Cup Regatta, but UCLA pulled away over the final 1,000-meters to win with a time of 6:18.30. SDSU came through at 6:41.97, much faster than last season's 7:03.9 clocking.

In second varsity eight action, SDSU (6:52.95) improved its time by almost 18 seconds, but it wasn't enough in a 27-second setback to the Bruins (6:25.50).

The varsity four boat ran into some crabs early but still managed to put together a solid time of 7:04.58 (last year's boat finished in 6:52.8), but finished third behind UCLA's "A" (7:17.17) and "B" (7:20.66) boats.