Sacramento State’s women’s rowing ended last season by earning a gold, silver and bronze medal at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships.

The varsity eight won the bronze and set a new school record for fastest time of 7:45. Sac State took first place in the second varsity eight and varsity four races while the novice eight came in second in their race. The 2011 rowing squad made school history by being the first to medal in all four of the biggest races at the championships.

Sac State starts its season on Feb. 25. The first meet is a scrimmage against UC Berkeley in Sacramento on Lake Natoma.

Head coach Mike Connors said preparation is one way he gets the rowers ready for a successful season. Also, by designing a schedule for the season that makes sense for the team. He said he likes the crew to start their season with smaller competitions against teams like San Diego and then work their way up to more challenging races, like the Dad Vail Regatta, a huge rowing competition on the east coast.

Cal Berkeley, UCLA, Gonzaga University and UC Santa Barbara have been a couple of Sac State’s tough matchups during the past couple years.

“It’s hard to say who will be tough for us this year,” said junior port and starboard Ana Fletcher. “We’ve only been training since school started, not racing, so it’s hard to tell what other schools will bring by the spring because it’s so early in the school year.”

In rowing there is no strategic way to break down an opponent, Conners said. He said he just needs the girls to focus on being as fast as they individually can be and work well together as a team.

The boat line-ups are based on the speed of each rower. The varsity eight boat has the fastest girls in it, the second varsity eight boat has the second fastest and the novice boat is made up of girls with no rowing experience. After they gain some experience, they will be moved up to a varsity boat. Conners said he changes the boat seating depending on who is performing well each day.

“Competition keeps the pressure on everyone and gives every girl on the team a chance to succeed and not lose hope,” Connors said. “I do not want the girls getting complacent because the boat line-ups are never final until the day of a race.”

Aside from complacency, Connors said he wants the girls to always be aware of what is happening on the water.

“It’s not just about beating the other boat, but taking the time to ask themselves, ‘What’s our boat’s speed? Is this where we should be? And individually, where am I?'”

Connors said there were a couple of seniors who graduated last year, one of them being a top rower and stroke of the varsity eight boat, Emily Airoldi.

Sac State recruited four freshmen this year who have at least one year of rowing experience – Michelle Evers, Nneka Anyanwu, Hannah Silberberg and Alex Santella.

“All of them (are) athletic girls with a lot of upside in their rowing. Evers can row pretty darn well and is contributing good ergometer scores. Anyanwu is powerful and strong, but is recovering from a back injury. Silberberg and Santella are developing well as their technique and fitness levels are always improving,” Connors said.

Connors said the turnaround from season to season goes over smoothly because of the team’s willingness to learn and the ability to push themselves.

“We collectively lose people and collectively replace people. If you have high standards and expect to be at the top level, there is no reason to doubt your capability,” Connors said.

Connors said he is confident in each rower, newbie or veteran; assuring the team is strong, powerful, athletic, experienced and continuously improving. Conners said he expects at least a couple of the newcomers to be in the top boats this upcoming season.

“Success requires time, effort and commitment. But passion is what gets you to that level of personal satisfaction,” Connors said. “Some people measure it in wealth, but we judge our success through fulfillment.”

Senior captains Sadeeka Dosu and Sarah Pivonka said they have their own leadership strategy, which includes: leading by example so others with follow.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit,” is what the back of the rowers’ team shirts said in 2010.

“That is what inspires me to push myself and teammates to always hold each one of us accountable for every workout,” Dosu said.

Working as hard at the last practice as they did at the first practice of the season is what Connors said he expects out of the girls.

“What I want to hear from the girls going into their final races is that they feel really energetic and they feel the best they’ve felt all year long,” Connors said.

Dosu, Pivonka and Connors keep an open door policy when it comes to asking for advice and guidance. Dosu said team chemistry is important because working together makes it easier to help each other.

“If everyone in the boat trusts that everyone is wholeheartily working hard for the team to prosper, I believe half of the battle is already won,” Dosu said.

Connors summarizes his preparation to success with one concise motto, “quality, not quantity.” He said he likes the girls to work hard, but not over work themselves, to minimize injuries.

They are allowed to practice up to 20 hours per week, but Connors only requires an average of 16 hours, leaving the decision of how to use the rest of their time up to each rower.

Connors said he believes the girls who want to succeed will use their time wisely to put them a step ahead because self-motivation is an important key to success.

Jillian Kweller can be reached at [email protected].