May 27, 2003
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's rowing team won four medals at last weekend's Pacific Coast Rowing Championships (PCRC) held on Lake Natoma in Sacramento, Calif. The regatta featured women's and men's rowing teams from colleges and universities from across the western United States. All races were 2000 meters with heats in the morning and finals in the evening.
The Aztecs placed first in the varsity four, clocking in at 7:48.6. San Diego State used a lineup of Stephanie Snaman (stroke) Ashley Paiko, Brittany McMahon and Venesa Meses (bow), with Alicia Chudy serving as the coxswain. St Mary's placed second (7:50.9), followed by Stanford (7:52.9), CSUS (8:00.5), UCLA (8:19.6), Oregon (8:24.5), and California Berkeley (8:48.0).
SDSU's lightweight eight, ranked ninth in the nation according to the USRowing Collegiate coaches poll, placed a very respectable second place behind fourth-ranked Stanford University. The silver-medal team's lineup consisted of Amanda Briggs (stroke), Vanessa Kenley, Ellen Wilson, Amanda Corvera, Kelcey Stricker, Rachael Vrooman, Jamie Willeford, Katie Lee (bow) and Laurie Nakamura (coxswain).
In the novice four event, the Aztecs won the silver medal in a come-from-behind effort, finishing in 8:02.2. SDSU came in behind first-place USC, but placed ahead of UCSD in the grand final. In other racing, Aztec senior and three-time crew letterwinner Alicia Stuebner made her debut in the women's collegiate single and earned a bronze medal for her performance.
On Sunday, the Aztecs competed in the Pac-10 Championships at the same venue. The Pac-10 Championships are limited to the top 21 entrants for each event in the West Region, which includes each of the eight Pac-10 rowing institutions (Cal, Washington State, Stanford, Oregon State, Washington, UCLA and USC and Oregon).
San Diego State won the women's varsity four petite final, recording a time of 8:08.6 to finish eighth overall. The Aztecs also made an appearance in the women's varsity eight petite final, earning a fifth-place finish (7:07.7) behind UCLA, Sacramento State, UC Davis and Loyola Marymount. In the second varsity eight petite final, SDSU clocked in at a fourth-place time of 7:15.6, with UCLA again claiming the victory at 7:09.5.
Sunday's regatta marked the end of the SDSU women's rowing regular season. Since the advent of the NCAA Championships in 1997, holding the PCRC/Pac-10's on the final weekend allows the selection committee to compare virtually all West Coast (Pac-10 and non Pac-10) crews under comparable race conditions.