SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? The UC San Diego women's crew performed well at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships over the weekend at Lake Natoma, with the varsity four and second varsity eight reaching Grand Finals on Sunday and the varsity eight finishing fourth in the petite final.  The team finished the event ranked third in Division II.

The varsity four placed sixth in Sunday's grand final with a time of 8:03.7, in an event won by defending national champion Western Washington.  The squad advanced to the Grand Final with a third place time of 7:54.4 as part of heat one during the preliminaries.  The team moved up to a number two ranking in the region following their WIRA performance.

“The women's varsity four was probably our top performer,” said head coach Pattie Pinkerton.  “They had great start and were able to qualify for the Grand Final.”

The second varsity eight also placed sixth, clocking a time of 7:11.5.  The varsity eight had a harder time, rowing well during the first 1000 meters on Saturday's preliminary, but unable to find the extra gear for the final 1000 meters.  The team did not advance to the Grand Final, but earned a spot in the Petite Final, finishing fourth in the event and 10th overall with a time Petite Final time of 7:29.8.

Despite not making the Grand Final, Coach Pinkerton was pleased with the progress displayed by each the boats, especially considering the rainy and windy conditions in Sacramento.

“The conditions were very, very difficult, especially for our lightweights,” said Pinkerton. “Sacramento set an all-time record for rain for the month of May on Saturday and it rained harder and longer [on Sunday].  The lightweights are most as risk with those type of conditions.  They did well and showed vast improvements.”

The lightweight eight boat finished with a time of 7:56.1 during the Grand Final, good for sixth place.  The women's novice eight also provided a high point for the Tritons, with a win in the third level final during day one.  The team recorded a time of 7:35.7, while the second novice eight came in seventh during day two's Grand Final and gave Pinkerton and the entire squad reason to be excited for their transition to varsity next season.

UCSD women's crew will next look to the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships, the final event before the NCAA Division II National Championships.  Last season, the Tritons earned second-place finishes in both the varsity eight and varsity four events.  The PCRCs will take place Saturday, May 16 at Lake Natoma, with a scheduled start time of 8 a.m.