BERKELEY - California crews will travel to Lake Natoma, Sacramento this weekend for Pacific Coast Rowing Championships (PCRCs) on Saturday and the Pac-12 Championship on Sunday. In the penultimate events of the season, Cal will face the best collegiate crews on the West Coast to decide who takes home the Pac-12 Conference title.

The PCRCs and Pac-12 Championships are held every year at the Lake Natoma race course in Sacramento. Hosted by the Sacramento State Aquatic Center, the course is two kilometers long with six fully marked lanes. Lake Natoma is an ideal location for racing because of its consistently fair weather conditions. PCRCs is a smaller event than Sunday's Pac-12 event and this year Cal is entering an eight and a four to compete on Saturday. The Pac-12 Championship is the main event of the weekend and is the premier rowing event on the West Coast. Historically, the PAC-12 has been dominated by crews from California and Washington. These two schools have accounted for a total of 50 PAC-12 titles in its 55 year history.

“Speaking on behalf of the seniors racing this weekend, I can say that we are all ready and eager to race one last time on Lake Natoma for a Pac-12 title” said senior Morgan Hellen.

This year, California seeks to end a six year streak by the University of Washington. Having beaten Washington for the Schoch Cup for the second consecutvie year at the regular season dual. An increasingly strong Cal crew will look to cement its prominence atop the collegiate field this weekend.

“We've had a really strong end to our spring regular season and I'm excited for our entire team to race this weekend. PCRC's and the Pac-12 Championships are always a big test for our student-athletes as they are coming off of a week full of final exams. The team has put in a lot of hard work this year and we will look to continue to improve on certain aspects from our last few races” said head coach Mike Teti.

In the USRowing Collegiate Poll released this week, California ranks second ahead of Washington in fourth. Other ranked Pac-12 teams include No. 14 Stanford and No. 20 Oregon State. A win at the Pac-12 Championship would be an additional confidence boost for Cal as they prepare for the IRA National Championships held at Lake Mercer, New Jersey next month.

Sunday's racing will be recapped on the Pac-12 Network May 21st and fans can find out where to watch here. In case you missed it, the Pac-12 Network released the men's crew all-century team in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the conference and features eight Golden Bears including legendary Cal and Olympic Coach Ky Ebright as Pac-12 Men's Crew Coach of the Century and Jake Wetzel as the Pac-12 Men's Rower of the Century. All-Century Golden Bear rowers include current assistant coach Scott Frandsen, Sebastian Bea, Luke Walton, Mladen Stegic, Pete Donlon and coxswain Pete Cipollone. Cal's eight selections are tied for the most by a single program in the conference.      

There will be a California supporters tent on the bank along the finishing stretch of the race course. All parents, alumni and supporters are welcome and encouraged to join and cheer on the Bears. The Friends of Cal Crew will be present at the California tent to welcome all Golden Bear fans.

Live results can be found here and fans of Cal Men's Crew can follow along for live updates from Sacramento on twitter (@californiacrew)

2016 PAC-12 Championships Schedule

9:00 AM Men's Varsity Four

9:15 AM Women's Third Varsity Eight

9:30 AM Men's Novice Eight

9:45 AM Women's Varsity Four

10:00 AM Men's Third Varsity Eight

10:15 AM Women's Second Varsity Eight

10:30 AM Men's Second Varsity Eight

10:45 AM Women's Varsity Eight

11:00 AM Men's Varsity Eight

11:45 AM Awards Presentation