SAN DIEGO, Calif. - UC San Diego women's crew hosted the ninth annual Row for the Cure event in Mission Bay on Sunday, and again the event proved a huge success, both competitively and as a fundraiser for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The event surpassed even the lofty expectations set by last year's turnout of 540 athletes, as 2010 again set a new standard for the largest attendance with 650 participants. Thus far, nearly $20,000 has been raised by the event, with that figure expected to continue to grow as more funds are tallied in the coming weeks.

"The regatta itself is an act of love by the team, because so many members of the Triton family have been affected by breast cancer," said head coach Pattie Pinkerton. "This is what we do to support them."

In addition to the amazing help and support Row for the Cure provides for uninsured and underinsured women in the San Diego community with breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and services, Sunday also was the kick-off to the 2010-11 season for UC San Diego crew. Men's crew competed against UCLA in a warm for their first test of the fall, November 7 at the Newport Autumn Rowing Festival. Head coach Zach Johnson will distribute talent equally among three competing boats in that race, again facing the Bruins, as well as USC, Cal, and Stanford in a three-mile race, with the regatta scheduled for a 7:30 a.m. start.

The women won all categories they competed in, with victories for the varsity eight, lightweight four, varsity four, and novice eight.

"We've only been on the water for about four weeks. It was good to see all our hard work come together," said junior Stephanie Pham. "It was the novice teams' very first race, so it was great to show them what our regattas are all about."

The varsity eight put together a performance that included a final time of 15:52 that bested the marks of some Division I competitors on the day, while the second varsity finished in 17:30.  The lightweight four won in 19:21, while Pham served as coxswain in her second winning boat of the day as part of the victorious varsity four team in 17:36.  The final time for the two novice boats was 22:45 and 25:40.

"It was a great day. It's the first race of the season for us, and the first time we pull the varsity together," said Pinkerton. "They showed very good speed for this early in the season. We have big plans and we're on track. The entire team did an awesome job hosting the event and racing in it."

The novices will take on local competition this Saturday at the Foot of Mission Bay mini-regatta, while the entire team will compete on Sunday, November 14 at the Head of the Lagoon in Foster City. Both events are slated to begin at 7:00 a.m.

Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Stephanie Pham
8. Denise Kleckner
7. Carolyn Belak
6. Courtney Escajeda
5. April Kim
4. Jennifer Burke
3. Collette Lefuel
2. Daisy Orta
1. Alyssa Dixon-Word

Second Varsity
Coxswain: Melissa Lau
8. Julie Montes
7. Chantal Creighton
6. Ellen Umeda
5. Chelsea Bollinger
4. Erin Lee
3. Katie Holstein
2. Tanya Vander Vis
1. Julie Shen