The Sacramento State women’s rowing team competes and practices a dozen miles east of campus on the American River, but the trip can be worth the time and effort needed to see the team.

The Hornet rowers compete on Lake Natoma at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center. The center has done outreach to the Sac State student body, but unlike other Hornet sports and faculties, it isn’t something a student stumbles on between classes.

“It’s kind of an obscure sport,” said Mike Connors, rowing team head coach. “What’s nice is this is a great facility. For viewing races it is really ideal. You can really see the whole race coming down the course.”

The rowing team doesn’t compete in the Big Sky Conference, but rather in the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association, with the conference championship held at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center in May. The Hornets are perennially one of the more elite teams in the conference.

“I think we are very capable,” Connors said. “We just need to get healthy and stay healthy and make progress. We don’t have a lot of depth, so it is really critical for us to keep everybody going and manage a couple injuries.”

The varsity remaining healthy also helps for the future of the Hornet rowers.

“I’m trying to keep our novice squad all together, because I think they are going to do real well,” Connors said. “We have some really strong young rowers and I’m trying to keep them together as a group, but I might have to use some of them if we lose some of the varsity to injury. This is one of the fastest novice groups we’ve had since I’ve been here, so we expect good things from them.”

Michelle McMullen, senior psychology major, has been a varsity rower for two years, but will be returning from a back injury. Sophomore Madeleine Folco is also recovering from a back injury. Connors believes he needs both of them for the team to have an outstanding year.

Co-captain Ruthie Van Esso, senior psychology major, said she believes this year is their year to get back to the top of the conference. “We can be as good as we want to be,” she said. “We have lots of graduating seniors on the varsity team, so this is our big time.”

Co-captain Dani Thole, senior photography major, said she believes changes to the training should help the team avoid injuries.

“We’ve also changed our mind set,” she said. “We are developing more of a positive attitude and trust within the team.”

A new event midway through the season, The Lake Natoma Invitational from April 18-19, which is co-hosted with Cal, should help the team’s attitude. They will be competing against some of the top squads in the country. Competing schools will be Sac State, Cal, Stanford, UCLA, Texas, Tennessee, Central Florida, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

“It’s going to be pretty cool,” Connors said. “Stanford last year was second in Varsity-8 in the NCAAs and Cal finished third in the team competition last year in the NCAA. It will be a pretty tough challenge for us, but I think it will be good for our rowers in mid-racing season to take a stab at that kind of competition.”

Gonzaga looks to be the team to beat in the conference. They are the defending champions.

“They have some really good seniors, and they have managed to beat some Pac-10 teams in the fall that have been ranked,” Connors said. “Sort of a sleeper out there, if there is one, is St. Mary’s. She has lots of experience and strong girls. They’ve been getting a little bit better every year.”

The WIRA championship, May 2-3, will again be staged at Lake Natoma, giving the Hornet home-lake advantage.

“Rowing is kind of a niche sport,” Brian Dulger, director of the Aquatic Center, said. “Natoma is known as one of the premier centers in the country and when the championship season starts in April and May we have 40 white tents setup and all the rowing shells on display.”

Connors said they get a lot of parents and friends of the rowers out to watch the races, but would love to see more student support at their events. “The aquatic center, just as a part of Sac State, is a place to come and experience. A lot of students don’t realize what is out here, much less the rowing part. It’s a great facility.”

Dan King can be reached at [email protected]