The Sacramento State women’s rowing team sent four boats to San Diego this weekend for the San Diego Crew Classic.

Varsity eight was the only boat to advance to a grand final. In its final, Sac State finished tied for sixth, but only less than three seconds behind third place Saint Mary’s University. A third place finish would have landed the Hornets a bronze medal in the Cal Cup.

Saturday marked the first day of the event. By finishing in the top two or three of a heat, this would permit a boat to advance to Sunday’s finals. Sac State’s varsity eight finished third in its heat with a time of 7:06.20, just behind second place Kansa State’s time of 7:05.68.

With a third place finish, the Hornets raced in Sunday’s Cal Cup Finals along with seven other boats. Sac State recorded a time of 7:05.60, which tied them with Kansas State for sixth. University of British Columbia finished first with a time of 6:53.92 and the University of Victoria finished second at 6:56.33.

Sac State also brought a second varsity eight, novice eight and varsity four to San Diego. The second varsity eight finished last in its final on Saturday morning but won its third-level final later that afternoon. Novice eight also finished last in its heat but came back Saturday afternoon to finish third in the petite final. The varsity four did not qualify for a final as it finished last in its heat.

The Hornets will be back on the water Saturday and Sunday when it hosts the Lake Natoma Invitational. Other schools in the competition will include No.1 UC Berkeley, No.11 Stanford, No.4 University of Southern California, No.8 Notre Dame, No.5 Brown University, University of Oklahoma, University of Kansas and the University of San Diego.