LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's crew team will host Gonzaga and the University of San Diego on Friday in its second home regatta of the spring season. The Tritons will put three boats in the water, a varsity eight, JV eight and novice eight, to race against the Bulldog and Torero sides.

"I think Gonzaga's the team to beat in our conference this year," said Triton head coach Zach Johnson. "If we can be anywhere within a few seconds of them, we'll know we've got some speed."

The Tritons hosted a regatta with the same entrants last year on a day filled with heavy fog and tsunami warnings from Japan's devastating 9.0 earthquake. UCSD won two of the three races, with the varsity eight and JV eight boats placing first in their respective contests, and the novice eight boat finishing less than a second behind Gonzaga in that race.

With two regattas under its belt this season, UCSD has enjoyed early success. At the Opening Day Regatta in early March, the Tritons finished second or better in five of the six races, including a first place finish for the varsity eight. Two weeks prior, in its first competition of the spring season, UCSD won its eighth consecutive San Diego City Championship among a field that included USD.

After that race, Coach Johnson cited the Torero crew's potential threat. "USD is showing very good speed for this time of year," said Johnson. The Toreros won the varsity four race by open water last year.

Friday's first race is set to start at 7:00 a.m.