SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Coming off a successful showing at the Opening Day Regatta in Newport Beach, the Tritons are looking forward to continuing improvement at the Sacramento Invite on Saturday. This regatta will be the Triton rowers’ first competition outside of Southern California in the 2012 season.

UCSD will put nine shells in the water to contend against crews from NCAA Div. I, II, III and club programs. The field will include Sacramento State, St. Mary’s, Humboldt State, UC Berkeley, Cal Maritime, Santa Clara, Sonoma State, University of the Pacific and Mills College.

The Sacramento Invite is of particular importance to the Tritons because it is an NCAA qualifier race, as they will compete against Humboldt State, who placed third at the 2011 NCAA Div. II Championships.

“We will need to handle [Humboldt] by the end of the season to have a shot at an NCAA bid,” UCSD head coach Pattie Pinkerton said. “Racing against them this weekend will give us a benchmark for what we need to do.”

UCSD showed early-season strength and speed in Newport Beach on March 3, with seven of eight Triton boats finishing third or better. The novice four “B” squad placed first in their race, clocking in a full 7.5 seconds ahead of second-finisher UC Irvine. Additionally, the UCSD varsity eight, with an almost entirely new lineup this season, came in two lengths behind the race's winner, UC Santa Barbara, to place second.

At last year’s Sacramento Invite, the Tritons competed against crews from Sacramento State, St. Mary's, Pacific, Sonoma State and Humboldt State. UCSD's boats had fourth place finishes in the varsity and second varsity eight, open four and "B" varsity four races. The Tritons placed higher than third in all novice contests.

Coach Pinkerton looks forward to the competition Saturday, citing last weekend’s Opening Day Regatta as “a good platform to build from.”

The Sacramento Invite is set to start Saturday at 7 a.m. in Gold River.