April 24, 2001
This Week
The San Diego State women's rowing team continues its schedule this weekend, traveling to Sacramento for the 28-school Western Intercollegiate Rowing Asscociation championship. The two-day regatta will be held Saturday on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif.
About the WIRA
Saturday's regatta will consist of 45 races (23 on the women's side) beginning at 8 a.m. and continuing to approximately 6:15 p.m. SDSU will compete in six different races at this weekend's event. The Aztecs will appear in the lightweight four, novice four, varsity four, novice eight, second varsity eight and varsity eight races. The varsity eight competition features 17 schools including No.1 seed SDSU, No. 2 Western Washington, No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 4 San Diego and No. 5 Sacramento State. Preliminary races will be held in the morning with competition getting underway at 8 a.m. with the lightweight four race. Grand finals will be held in the afternoon starting with the novice lightweight four at 1:45 p.m. The top three finishers in each heat of the lightweight four, varsity four and second varsity eight advance to the grand finals along with the top two finishers in each heat of the novice four, novice eight and varsity eight.
Saturday's Schedule
Lightweight Four 8: 00 a.m.Lightweight Four 8:10 a.m. (SDSU)Novice Four 8:40 a.m.Novice Four 8:50 a.m. (SDSU)Novice Four 9:00 a.m.Varsity Four 9:40 a.m.Varsity Four 9:50 a.m. (SDSU)Novice Eight 10:30 a.m.Novice Eight 10:40 a.m. (SDSU)2nd Varsity Eight 11:10 a.m. (SDSU)2nd Varsity Eight 11:20 a.m.Varsity Eight Noon (SDSU)Varsity Eight 12:10 p.m.Varsity Eight 12:20 p.m.
At Last Year's WIRA
SDSU finished third in last year's varsity eight competition. Sacramento State and UC Davis finished in the top two spots respectively. Colorado, Western Washington rounded out the top five.
Last Week
The Aztecs spent last weekend in Redwood Shores, Calif., competing in the Stanford Invitational. The scarlet and black faced Washington State Saturday morning and Oregon State in the afternoon. SDSU posted second place finishes in all eight of the races it competed in.
The Coaching Staff
SDSU is led by third-year head coach Scott Steckel. Steckel is assisted by Kevin Waldick, in his third year with the program, and Helen Betancourt, in her first year. Betancourt was a member of the U.S. rowing team this past summer in the Sydney Olympics.
Up Next
SDSU's schedule continues on May 6 when it competes in the Opening Day Regatta in Seattle, followed by the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships on May 12 (Sat.) and the Pac-10 Championships a day later. Both of those events will be held in Sacramento.