While many Sacramento State students are still in bed at 5 a.m., a group of athletes are hard at work preparing for their upcoming spring rowing season.

“We wake up at five in the morning, some of us at 4:30 a.m. to get here on time. We are busting our ass for two hours and then we go to class all day,” said team co-captain Rebecca Woolston. “And then we have practice again for another hour.”

The Sac State women’s rowing team will be looking to carry the momentum from two late-season wins in the 2010 season into the upcoming 2011 season.

Last season, the women’s rowing team won the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Conference Championship for the varsity eight boat. The team then took that momentum to Philadelphia and won the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta for just the second time in school history.

The Dad Vail was founded in 1934, and is the largest collegiate regatta in the United States.

Over the week long event, over 100 schools compete from various colleges and universities including some from Canada.

This year the Dad Vail has a little bit more importance to it, said team co-captain Jessa Carlson.

“The Henley Royal regatta is held on the River Thames every year,” Carlson said. “This year, the sponsor of the Dad Vail regatta will sponsor the first-place varsity eight men’s and women’s heavyweight boats to travel to London and compete in the regatta.”

Sac State was invited to go last year but was unable to attend due to lack of funding.

For now, the Hornets will be practicing six days a week at the Sac State Aquatics Center in Gold River, 25 minutes east of Sac State on Highway 50.

Head coach Mike Connors said the goal for the team is to get the newer rowers on the team up to speed to compete in the spring.

“Our focus in fall is all about development – getting our younger rowers to improve technically and physically,” Connors said. “Especially this year, we are a little younger. We returned two rowers and a coxswain from last year’s varsity eight boat.”

Connors said he remains optimistic as the team will have the entire junior varsity eight and four boat teams and several novices returning this season.

“We have a lot of material to work with. However, it is just a little less experienced than what we had last year,” Connors said. “The good news so far and based on how they are doing on their ergometer work this fall, there is definitely a lot of potential.”

That optimism is shared by Carlson, as she said there is a strong core for the team to work with this year.

“I think we are pretty lucky that our entire junior varsity will be returning. And we also have two rowers from last year’s varsity eight that returned as well,” Carlson said. “So there is a good foundation of rowers that will be able to help continue the momentum of training into the spring.”

With so few varsity rowers returning, Connors said he will be leaning on those rowers who have been in the program three to four years to step up and help direct the newcomers.

“Jessa was our coxswain last year and our captain this year. She has been showing a lot of great leadership so far,” Connors said. “And our other captain, Rebecca, she is a four-year rower and very solid.”

As the senior coxswain on the rowing team, Carlson said she believes that having an agenda for the development of the other coxswains on the team will help the program thrive.

“I carry the responsibility of setting the bar high as the returning varsity eight coxswain. We are really fortunate to have coxswains who are pretty proficient in their skills,” Carslon said.

“Personally, I am working to make sure that the less experienced coxswains feel comfortable and proficient and confident as I do when I get on the water.”

For Woolston, she sees her role as co-captain of the rowers as being more hands-on.

“When we do our ergometer sets, I feel there is a lot of expectation and pressure that I put on myself to do well. Because they are really important for fitness and if you don’t have a fit squad then the team won’t be fast,” Woolston said. “And some of the younger girls, when I am in the boat, I will help them their technique. But as captain of the rowers, I have to keep a positive attitude even if the set is bad.”

The rowers start out the season S

aturday at Lake Natoma for the Head of the American meet.

Carlson said the turnover will benefit the team in the long run and not paying attention to the critics will be the best plan this season.

“I think it’s really important that we continue to expect good results from our team and not just hope good results because we are in a rebuilding year,” Carlson said. “And others outside the program like to put that label because we lost six people out of the varsity eight. But as an athlete I think it’s important to remember that a rebuild is a just an opportunity to refresh and grow.”

Matt Harrington can be reached at [email protected]