April 19, 2007

SAN DIEGO -

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SDSU Crew Looks to Feed Off Momentum in Miller Cup Regatta
After taking four out of five races against its cross-town rivals in the San Diego City Championships., the surging San Diego State rowing team heads to the Los Angeles area for the Miller Cup Regatta on Saturday. All the action is set to get underway at 9 a.m. on La Ballona Creek in Marina del Rey, Calif., where SDSU will start by facing boats from UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount and USD in four qualifying heats.

The Aztecs will compete in the day's first event, the 9 a.m. Novice Eight race, followed by the Varsity Four race at 9:20 a.m. SDSU will close out the qualifiers in the Junior Varsity Eight race at 9:40 a.m. and the 10 a.m. Varsity Eight race. Following the preliminary heat action, the finals schedule is set to begin at 10:50 a.m. with lanes drawn from the qualifiers.

A Look Back at the 2006 Miller Cup Regatta
In its final tune-up of the regular season, the San Diego State women's rowing team had four crews compete at the 31st Annual Miller Cup Regatta on Ballona Creek in Marina Del Rey, Calif. The Aztecs' junior varsity eight and varsity four boats took second and third in the grand finals of their respective events, while the varsity eight crew captured a bittersweet victory in the petite final of its race.

After emerging triumphant in the preliminary heat, the SDSU junior varsity boat raced to a runner-up finish in the grand final with a time of 6:57.7, over 10 seconds in front of cross-town rival USD (7:08.3). The Aztecs' varsity four crew was also victorious in its opening heat, before placing third in the grand final with a 6:48.2 clocking.

In the varsity eight competition, SDSU was in hot pursuit of Loyola Marymount during the last half of its preliminary heat, before a strange twist of fate doomed the scarlet and black. The Aztecs were able to close within one boat length of their front-running archrival when suddenly one of the oars caught a crab at approximately the 700-meter mark, slowing the momentum of the boat. The mishap cost SDSU valuable seconds and ultimately a berth in the grand final.

The Aztecs regrouped, however, to claim the petite final with a winning time of 6:30.2, over five seconds ahead of USD (6:35.6). SDSU's clocking was also 12 seconds faster than UC Santa Barbara (6:42.3), which took third place in the grand final.

Meanwhile, in its only race of the day, the Aztecs' novice eight boat came in third with a time of 7:05.2, behind runner-up UCSB (6:49.7) and first-place UCLA (6:45.8).

Last Race With the Aztecs
The San Diego State rowing team dominated the San Diego City Championships earlier this week, taking four out of the event's five races against cross-town rivals UCSD and USD.

The Aztec dominance was evidenced by the Novice Four race where SDSU finished 1 minute, 22.5 seconds ahead of UCSD and the Novice Eight Race, where SDSU's "A" boat was 21.1 seconds better than the Tritons. The Aztecs also won the Varsity Eight and Junior Varsity Eight races.