LA JOLLA, Calif. – The UC San Diego men's rowing team is gearing up for the California Challenge Cup, which takes place this Saturday, March 4, at Marina Park in Newport Beach, Calif. The event will see ten crews from various universities go head-to-head in rotating opponent two-crew races over a distance of 1400m.
The registered crews consist of Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Orange Coast College, San Diego State, Santa Clara, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Barbara.
In addition to the exciting competition between ten top university crews, this year's California Challenge Cup also marks UC San Diego Men's Rowing Team's first race of the season and Jeff Collett's first race leading the Tritons.
DETAILS
California Challenge Cup
Saturday, Mar. 4
Varsity 8 — 7:55 a.m.
Second Varsity 8 — 8:15 a.m.
Marina Park | Newport Beach, Calif.
CHILLY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Saturday's event will be encompassed with partly cloudy skies and temperatures being in the high 50s. While this may be on the harsher side for Southern California weather, there is no anticipation of rain currently.
JEFF COLLETT AT THE HELM
This season marks the first for Jeff Collett as head coach of UC San Diego Men's Rowing, and he's already making a major impact on the program. Collett is no stranger to the Tritons, having first joined the team as a scholar-athlete in 2007. After transferring from Orange Coast College, he rowed for two seasons before graduating with a degree in communications in 2009.
Following his time as a scholar athlete, Collett gained experience as the head youth rowing coach at Newport Aquatic Center before returning to UC San Diego in 2013 as the Tritons' recruiting coordinator and assistant coach.
Collett takes the reigns from interim head coach
Sean McCrea, who led the Tritons through the spring 2022 season, which concluded with the Varsity 8 boat claiming a fourth straight Western Sprints Championship. This is a return to coaching for Collett, who spent the past year and a half working in the world of e-sports as Director of Operations at Cloud9 Training Grounds.
ON THE MOVE
After 20 seasons playing as an NCAA Division II team, the entire athletics program is in its third year of a four-year transition to NCAA Division I, culminating in full DI status as a member of
The Big West for the 2024-25 academic year. At that time, all sports will be eligible for conference and NCAA postseason play.
MAKING THE GRADE
The Tritons have continued to excel in the classroom. UC San Diego posted a 3.39 team grade point average during fall quarter while freshman
Sacha Dewancker and sophomore
Danny Jarotzky posted a 4.0.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The 2023 men's rowing team is made up of one grad student, four seniors, two juniors, 15 sophomores, and 13 freshmen.
NEW TRITONS ON THE BLOCK
The Triton's hold a very young team with 28 underclassmen on a roster of 35 scholar athletes.
The full freshman class is
Chad Breslin (Sacramento/Christian Brothers HS),
Sacha Dewancker (Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, France/Gisborne Boy's HS),
Peter Dogan (Los Altos/Los Altos HS),
Andrew Geller (Los Alamitos/Los Alamitos HS),
Jacqueline Huebner (Moraga/Campolindo HS),
Paris Liston (Newburgh, N.Y./Belmont Hill School),
Aleksander Navarro (La Jolla/The Bishop's School), Sabastian Navarro (San Diego/The Bishop's School),
Kyle Pellegrini (Placerville/Charter University Prep),
Judah Regen (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan HS),
David Santamaria(Jacksonville, Fla./The Bolles School),
Andrew Saska (Elk Grove/Peasant Grove HS),
Adam Ziegelmueller (Chicago, Ill./Jones College Prep High).
UP NEXT
UC San Diego's next race will be at the San Diego Crew Classic in Mission Bay stretching from Apr. 1-2.
WHY THE TRITONS?
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.
MEN'S ROWING ON TRITONCAST
GET SOCIAL WITH UC SAN DIEGO ROWING
Keep up with the Tritons all season long on social media through
Twitter and
Instagram. The team's handle is @ucsdmrowing.
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the
Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!
GEAR
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories,
click here.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
