LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego women's crew program will have six boats competing this weekend, as the varsity eight, second varsity eight, novice eight, second novice eight, varsity four, and lightweight four all look to medal at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. The race will be held on Gold River in Sacramento, beginning Saturday, May 1 and concluding on Sunday, May 2 with a slated start time of 8 a.m.

The Tritons, coming off a strong scrimmage with San Diego State last Saturday, will face off with squads from top Division II programs, including Seattle Pacific and Humboldt State. While the two schools have consistently finished ahead of the Tritons, UCSD has been able to close the gap.

"This year we have a really young group, but they have really worked hard at coming together as a team," said head coach Pattie Pinkerton. "They found their racing gear at the Berg Cup, so I'm pretty excited about what's coming up."

After failing to medal at the WIRA Championships for the first time, the women's rowing team will be looking for a reversal of fortune at this weekend's race. The Berg Cup performance, where the varsity eight boat placed fourth, exhibited the type of improvement the team has been searching for during the spring rowing season and gives a glimpse of the possibilities at the WIRA Championships this weekend.

"Our goal is to make the final," Pinkerton said. "Our particular category is one of the largest at the regatta, so it's pretty tough competitively."

Pinkerton also has high hopes for both the varsity four and novice boats and expects strong performances from both.

"Our varsity four is a developing boat with a lot of leadership in it. It's our ninth through 12th rowers and we'll be going up against a lot of the crews' top four athletes," she said. "They'll have their work cut out for them, but I think they're going to have a really good race," Our novices have been racing really well, but they've had a number of mishaps in race. We're hoping for a clean race and expect a lot of speed from them."

Following the WIRA Championships, UCSD will return to Sacramento for its next regatta, the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships on Saturday, May 15.