May 28, 2004
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No. 10 Lightweight Boat Heads to IRAs
* The No. 10 San Diego State lightweight eight boat heads to Cherry Hill, N.J., to compete in the 102nd running of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) championships from June 4-5. The boat previously won the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship.
* "We are very excited for this weekend and the lightweights have been preparing for this all year," head coach Jennifer Zebroski said. "The competition will be very intense as we will be racing the fastest lightweight boats in the country. We have competed in this race in the past but this year we are looking to be really competitive and to make this race a permanent part of our schedule."
The IRAs Will See the Best of the Best
* The top 10 boats in the final USRowing Collegiate Lightweight Eight Poll, released May 19, will be competing at the IRAs, along with the 14th-ranked team and a squad also receiving votes.
* The IRAs are the collegiate national championships for all men's rowing events and for women's lightweight rowers. The NCAA sponsors women's rowing as a championship sport, but only for the varsity eight, junior varsity eight and varsity four boats.
Aztecs Return to the IRA Championships
* The Aztec lightweight boat competed in the IRA championships once previously, finishing fifth in 2000. San Diego State's time of 7:27.3 trailed champion Princeton (7:03.5), runner-up Villanova (7:07.5), Wisconsin (7:12.4) and Brown (7:24.3), while surpassing St. Joseph's (8:50.1). The Aztecs finished second in their repechage heat to qualify for the championship final.
Briggs Brings it On
* Amanda Briggs, a sophomore from Santee who will be rowing in the five seat at the IRA championships, has been an asset to Aztec rowing all year.
* "Briggs is an amazing rower and has been a strong and consistent athlete for us all year," head coach Jennifer Zebroski said. "She rowed as a lightweight last year but due to her impressive strength and drive she raced in the varsity eight all spring. Now she is back in the lightweight boat for IRAs and the boat has already gained much speed with her power."
Recapping the PCRC and Pac-10 Championships
* At the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships on May 15, the Aztec lightweight boat pulled in a second-place finish while the varsity four and novice four boats finished their seasons with a pair of third-place results.
* At the Pac-10 Championships on May 16, the novice eight boat won its petite final, the junior varsity eight placed fourth and the varsity eight was seventh in their petite finals. All three boats concluded their 2003-04 seasons with those results.
IRA Women's Lightweight Eight Lineups
No. 1 Radcliffe (Harvard)
No. 2 Wisconsin
No. 3 Princeton
No. 4 Georgetown
No. 5 Stanford
No. 6 Rhode Island
No. 7 Purdue
No. 8 Bucknell
No. 9 UCF
No. 10 San Diego State
No. 14 Lehigh
ARV Rochester
Rankings are taken from the final USRowing collegiate women's lightweight eight poll
San Diego State's IRA Women's Lightweight Eight Lineup
Cox Caitlin Carrion
Stroke Vanessa Kenley
Seven Stephanie Snaman
Six Deidra Little
Five Amanda Briggs
Four Jenny Allen
Three Lynda Shuker
Two Rachael Vrooman
Bow Coby Vandenberg
Alternate Amanda Corvera