LA JOLLA, Calif. ? UC San Diego men's crew will make their first-ever appearance at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships this week, returning to Lake Natoma in Sacramento to compete from Thursday, June 4 through Sunday, June 6.  The Tritons will look to cap a record-breaking season as they become the first California school outside of Stanford and Cal to earn a spot in the IRA Championships.  UCSD has spent the entire season ranked in the top-25 and will look to defend their ranking against the best rowing teams from across the nation.

During their last event at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships, the Tritons as a team finished third overall, despite entering only five boats.  The outstanding varsity eight boat came in just behind Gonzaga University in a photo-finish with a silver-medal winning time of 6:00.2.  The second varsity eight boat also placed second in the WIRA Grand Final, while Ryan Andre, Jeff Collett, and Karam Badran earned All-WIRA First Team honors, Jonathan Lynch was named to the Second Team and head coach Zach Johnson was recognized as Coach of the Year.

As IRA rules prohibit freshman from rowing with varsity eight boats, first-year Triton Nathan Morgan will be participating with the freshman boat at Lake Natoma.  The varsity eight boat competing at the IRA Championships will feature Andre, Badran, Collett, Justin Gordon, Kris Grey, Andrew Hilton, Jay Dee Morgan, Michael Verdone moving up from the second varsity eight boat, and coxswain Cameran Biltucci.

The Tritons will also enter boats in the varsity four and freshman eight boat.  The varsity four line-up will feature Lynch, Justin Hsu, Jonathan Seibert, Michael Sullivan, and coxswain Vanessa Garret.  The freshman eight competing will be Joey Frank, Austin Lopez, Kellen Mandehr, Nathan Morgan, Billy Scherba, Zach Sharfman, Erik Smith, Ed Yragui, and coxswain Anthony Nguyen.