Rowing earns four second place finishes at Sacramento State Invitational

Garrett Riendeau

The Sacramento State women’s rowing team opened up its season with a strong start when it hosted the Sacramento State Invitational at Lake Natoma Saturday.

Varsity eight, second varsity eight, novice eight, second novice eight, and varsity four all earned second place finishes. Novice four finished third and second varsity four finished fourth in its respected races.

Other boats competing in the invitational was Saint Mary’s College, Humboldt State University, UC San Diego, Mills College, Orange Coast College and Gonzaga University.

With five second place finishes in seven races, the Hornets trailed only the Bulldogs of Gonzaga, who went on to sweep the competition.

Head coach Mike Connors knew that Gonzaga was going to be a tough test for his team.

“They (Gonzaga) were in the NCAA championships last year and they have a deep crew,” Connors said.

The Hornet’s varsity eight posted a time of 6:48.2 in the 2000-meter, trailing Gonzaga’s time of 6:38.6 by just under 10 seconds. Sac State was able to stay level with the Bulldogs for the first half of the race but were unable keep pace in the final stages. Third place finisher was Saint Mary’s with a time of 6:57.2.

Second varsity eight finished with a time of 6:58.0, trailing Gonzaga by just under 11 seconds with a time of 6:46.6. Saint Mary’s also finished third in this race with a time of 7:06.7, trailing Sac State by about eight seconds.

The other two varsity boats to race were varsity four. who posted a time of 7:45.2, 12 seconds behind Gonzaga, and second varsity four, which posted a time of 8:08.5.

Novice eight finished with a time of 7:19.9, second novice eight posted a time of 7:43.1, and novice four recorded a time of 8:19.8.

The Hornets will be in action next Saturday when they host University of Alabama and San Diego State University at Lake Natoma.