Early morning winds gently caressed the surface of Lake Natoma on Saturday while the women’s rowing varsity eight boat pounded the water with its oars defeating Long Beach State in a dual meet, keeping the Hornets undefeated in such meets dating back to 2003.

All three of the Hornets’ eights competed in Saturday’s races with the second varsity eight also finishing ahead of Long Beach State. The Hornets’ novice eight finished six seconds after the 49ers.

Long Beach served as preparation for Saturday and Sunday’s Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships at Lake Natoma. In all aspects of life, the best way to prepare for something is to try hard to do your best, which is exactly what the varsity eight did Saturday when they posted their best time of the season (6:40.6). Had the Hornets posted that time in last year’s WIRA Championships, they would have finished five seconds before Gonzaga, which took home the gold with a time of 6:45.7.

“I think the most important thing (this weekend) is that we finally have an opportunity for all three boats to place in first as long as we race to the best of our abilities,” senior Steffanie Jakovac said. “If we do not place first we are going down fighting, we are going to fight so hard for this race.”

The Hornets haven’t placed first in the WIRA Championships since 2001 and for the four seniors on the varsity eight, it’s the last chance they have at winning their conference.

“It’s pretty much going to be a dogfight,” Jakovac said.

Since the WIRA is the race that the team prepares for all year long, there is much anticipation for the regatta, but junior Janine LaCrosse explained this year’s crew has built the most unity throughout her years at Sac State quelling any fears about the race.

“This is the tightest boat that we’ve ever had,” LaCrosse said. “We’re all really close, all really good friends and we know what it’s going to take to win.”

“There’s a lot of unity on our team right now and we all have a positive attitude going into this race,” Jakovac added.

Armando Botello II can be reached at [email protected]