April 9, 2003

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - In the first 2003 regular-season USRowing Collegiate Coaches' Poll released Wednesday, San Diego State's lightweight eight crew team landed the No. 7 spot, up three from its preseason ranking of No. 10.

The lightweight squad is coming off a successful weekend at the San Diego Crew Classic, held April 5-6, in which the team advanced to the grand final of the A.W. Coggeshall Cup. SDSU was bested by No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 4 Villanova, No. 5 Stanford and No. 6 Georgetown in the championship race, but pushed past No. 9 California for a fifth-place finish.

Defending IRA champion Princeton University was the unanimous No. 1 pick in the poll, with Wisconsin, Radcliffe, Villanova and Stanford rounding out the top-five. USRowing is the organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the national governing board for rowing in the U.S.

Rank   Team (1st-Place Votes)                 Points
1.         Princeton University (8)              160
2.         Wisconsin                             147
3.         Radcliffe                             143
4.         Villanova University                  135
5.         Stanford                              129
6.         Georgetown University                 117
7.         San Diego State                       100
8.         Delaware                               92
9.         UC Berkeley (Cal)                      88
10.       Mercyhurst College                      75
11.       Long Beach State                        73
12.       University of Central Florida           69
13.       Massachusetts Institute of Technology   61
14.       UC San Diego                            42
15.       UC Davis                                38