The undefeated Sac State women?s varsity rowing team suffered its first loss of the season to PAC-10 power Stanford in Redwood City last Saturday.

With both colleges? top rowers competing, the Hornet varsity eight finished thirteen seconds behind Stanford with a time of 6:53 over 2000 meters. Sac State easily defeated Santa Clara two weeks ago at that pace, but proved no match for an improved Stanford program.

“We went out and raced like we always do. They just had more horsepower,” said Sac State head coach Bill Zack. “Our team has managed to beat Stanford in two previous meetings in the last two years, but it?s tough to compete with PAC-10 schools because they can recruit a higher level of talent with more financial support.”

Stanford?s overall record improved to 2-0 with the victory, while the Hornets? fell to 3-1. “The team was mentally prepared for the match. They just struggled with balancing the boat and it slowed down their speed,” Zack said.

In another race, the second Hornet varsity eight lost to the Cardinal with a time of 7:19. Stanford finished in 7:09.

“We need to make some technical moves and switch rowers around,” Zack said. “If we can make the weight of our boat lighter we can be faster.”

The current national rowing rankings come out today, when Zack, the vice president of the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association, reports the results of the poll. Twenty-five coaches from the five different regions will vote, including Zack.

“Stanford will get its recognition and will be ranked ahead of us,” Zack said. “The competition is only going to get more difficult as the season progresses.”

The Hornets will next race at the San Diego Crew Classic on Saturday and Sunday.