LA JOLLA, Calif. ? Returning to the water for the first time since March 7, the UC San Diego women's crew team will be competing in the Berg Cup hosted by Orange Coast College on Saturday.  The Triton women will be boating out of Chapman College in Newport Beach, with crews launching from 7:15 a.m. for an 8:00 start. The varsity women's eight will race at 10:00 am, with awards ceremonies to follow at the Newport Aquatic Center.
 
“This is a particularly important platform for all of the crews,” head coach Pattie Pinkerton said. “The varsity will use (Saturday's race) as the true beginning of the racing season and as a tune-up for the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Invitational in Vancouver, Washington next week.”

Currently ranked No. 3 nationally, the Tritons will face No. 1 Western Washington, Dowling College -- a unit that was ranked as high as No. 3 last season ? and Rollins College, along with all of the Division II squads on the West Coast. While its still early in the season, both the Berg Cup and the NCRC Regatta will both provide excellent opportunities for UCSD to impress national selectors.

The Triton women will face host OCC, UC Irvine, the University of San Diego, and Long Beach State in the Varsity Eight and Novice Eight, which will have the largest fields.

Pinkerton says the team is looking forward to a rematch with UCI, which swept an early season regatta, winning all events except the Novice Four, which the Tritons won.

“We hadn't begun our speed work then, but we've had a chance to polish up our start and sprint, so we believe we'll give them a better race,” she said.

Saturday's event will be the first outing against OCC and cross-town rival USD as both programs will begin their seasons this weekend.
 
The novice squad also expects to see improvement, coming off a tough week of spring break training.

“They've had a lot of solid seat racing”, novice coach Liz Record said, “And they will be much more confident this weekend.”

The novice unit will also face national competition next weekend at the San Diego Crew Classic
 
UCSD will have the largest squad attending the Berg Cup, competing in every event with the Varsity Four racing OCC's A and B squads, and University of San Diego; the Novice Four facing OCC, UC Irvine, and Chapman; and the Second Varsity Eight racing against OCC.
 
Spectators can watch racing action from the Chapman Boathouse at 1600 West Coast Highway, which is located at the 1200 meter mark of the 2000 meter course. Crews will launch approximately 40 minutes prior to their scheduled race.