The women’s rowing team hosted the Head of the American regatta at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma Saturday, posting a strong fourth-place finish in the varsity open eight event.

The Hornets beat both Stanford entries in the three-mile race, marking the second-straight year they’ve bested their rivals at the event. USC took the top spot, while Cal’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ boats finished second and third, respectively.

Sacramento’s second varsity eight finished tenth in the event. In the novice eight competition, the Sacramento State ‘A’ boat finished third, with the ‘B’ boat placing fourth. The Hornets nabbed another fourth-place finish in the open four event.

The varsity eight built on a solid effort in Boston at the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta last weekend, placing 24th out of 47 entries with a time of 18:07 on the three-mile course. This weekend’s time of 17:32 marked a considerable improvement in the event.

Senior coxswain Cecilia ‘C.C.’ Vina’s job is to keep the women synchronized and focused.

“I need to steer us the straightest course possible, the shortest course that I can get them, and to motivate them. If we start to lose a little pressure, I’ve got to get on them ?” whip them into shape,” Vina said.

Senior Steffanie Jakovac did her part from the sixth seat in the varsity eight event, and is excited about the improvements the program has made.

“In Boston last week, we just really locked-on. It was the best race of my life. And we came out here and did the same thing, we just acted like we were there…we were on, and it was so fun,” Jakovac said.

“We didn’t have nerves, just knowing that our coaches have trained us to this level, and we know we can race at it. And we did, we executed. It was awesome.”

The Head of the American regatta marked the second of three scheduled events this fall.

The team travels to Newport Beach, Calif., on Nov. 6 for the Newport Fall Regatta before shutting down in anticipation of the start of the spring season.

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Josh Terrell can be reached at [email protected]