The Sacramento State women’s rowing team is on the road in San Diego this weekend as it will compete in the San Diego Crew classic.

The Hornets will be bringing four boats – three eight boats and a four boat. The three eight boats are the varsity eight, second eight, and third eight and the four boat is the varsity four.

Head Coach Mike Connors said he is looking for all boats to be extremely competitive at the classic, especially his varsity eight squad. The varsity eight finished second in its last race against San Diego State and Alabama, but that was not good enough for Connors.

“The varsity eight did not have a good race,” Connors said. “It was very disappointing. We just got behind early and never got in a good rhythm. We were close the whole race, but could not recover from the poor start.”

Even though the Hornets won two of the five races in their last regatta, Connors feels they could have won more if it were not for a couple of main injuries. Junior Michelle Evers (shoulder) and sophomore Sandra Freeman (back) both have missed extended time this season.

Both play significant roles in their respected boats as Evers rows in the varsity eight and Freeman leads the varsity four.

Because both of these rowers were out, Connors had to make some changes to the lineup, which affected all of the boats racing in the previous regatta. With rowers being moved around to different boats, it made it difficult for all the rowers to be in sync with one another.

When the Hornets hit the water this weekend it will be the first time this season that the team is fully healthy. Both Evers and Freeman have been practicing this week and will be ready to go come Saturday. Connors said he fully expects faster times from each of the four boats.

“The two girls that missed the previous race are coming back this week, so that is good,” Connors said. “Everybody can kind of get back to their comfort zone.”

All of the heats will take place on Saturday and will conclude on Sunday afternoon with the petite finals and grand finals. In order to make the grand final, a boat must finish in the top two or three in its heat, depending on how many teams are racing in the heat.

Probably the most important race this weekend will come from the varsity eight as they will be racing in the Cal Cup. This race will begin with two heats on Saturday, consisting of seven teams in each heat. The top three finishers from each race will move on to Sunday’s final and the next three finishers will move on to the petite final, also on Sunday.

The other eight boats and the four boats will compete against five or six teams en route to the grand finals.

Connors said that this weekend will be a real tough test for his crew, but will be good preparation for what is to come later on in the season.

“Most of the crews coming out to this event are pretty capable,” Connors said. ”Every team is bringing really fast boats.”

One aspect of this weekend Connors said he hopes the team can get out of this weekend is team chemistry.

“A weekend like this gives the girls a lot of team bonding,” Connors said. “They get to spend all weekend with each other on the road, which can really help unite them.”

The first race will begin Saturday at 7:50 a.m. in San Diego, Calif.

Garrett Reindeau can be reached on Twitter @SH_Sports