Out late the night before, showing off its Western Inter-collegiate Association Championship trophy as if they had won the Stanley Cup, the Sac State women?s varsity eight rowing team raced its fastest time of the season in defeating visiting Cincinnati last Sunday morning.

Cincinnati was originally under the impression that it was going to compete in the Mid-West Rowing Championship, but was informed late that they couldn?t participate because it wasn?t in the league. As a result, it scheduled a friendly regatta with the confident Hornet?s at Lake Natoma and paid the price.

“We had two difficult races the day before and expected our team to come out tired,” said Sac State head coach Bill Zack. “But, I told them if they raced today as well as they did yesterday, we would produce the same results.”

The Hornets began the morning regatta strong by obtaining their quickest opening 500-meters ever, according to coxswain Bre Hart. Holding a four-second lead through the first quarter of the regatta, Sac State continued to row efficiently and used a slight tail wind to its advantage.

“This really was the least windy race of the year,” Zack said. “Normally the weather is more of a factor.”

Cincinnati, ranked fifth in the Southern Inter-collegiate Rowing Association, attempted to increase its stroke-rate and make a comeback near the halfway point. However, the Hornets withstood the push and finished seven seconds ahead with a time of 6:47.8. Cincinnati?s time was 6:55.3.

Sac State improved its out-of-conference record to 1-3 and overall record to 4-3 with the win, while remaining undefeated in league at 3-0.

“Now the focus has shifted to the Jean Runyon Cup next weekend,” Zack said. “This is a big local rivalry between us and UC Davis.”

The Hornets will race on Saturday at Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova.