By winning its WIRA grand final and helping win the WIRA team title this past weekend, Sacramento State’s second varsity eight crew was named Conference USA boat of the week.

The crew had eight rowers that featured sophomore Emily Mauer at coxswain, junior Kim Gross at stroke, sophomores Danielle Stout in the seven seat ,Courtney Owen at six and Nika Szyrynski at five. Juniors Desiree Drab Munoz at four and Katie Koehler at three, freshman Jill Modean at two, and senior Tawnya Curfman at the bow.

The boat posted a time of 6:53.10, the second fastest time in program history.

Juniors Kim Gross and Carly Hartman were named to the all-WIRA second team after the competition ended Sunday morning. Gross said she is glad that all the hard work is finally paying off.

“It feels great to have something to show for all the hard work we have put in,” Gross said. “What’s even better is we still have an opportunity to get better and reach our full potential.”

Head Coach Mike Connors was very pleased with the race.

“It was a good thing that we chose this race to get our fastest time of the year because Saint Mary’s and Portland really pushed us and I believe they both posted their fastest times of the season,” Connors said.

The fastest second varsity eight boat in program history came back in 2011 when that second varsity eight squad posted a time of 6:44.8. Connors was there on that day and remembers that race quite well.

“It’s really unfair to compare the two times because the 2011 crew was racing with a current and this year’s crew wasn’t racing in ideal conditions,” Connors said. “With all due respect to the 2011 squad, I feel that this year’s crew had a stronger race.”

Sac State is back on the water this Saturday when they make the short trip to the Port of Sacramento to race its rival UC Davis. Racing begins at 8 a.m.