The American adds Associate Members for Women’s Rowing

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference announced today that Sacramento State and San Diego State will join The American as Associate Members for women’s rowing. The two schools will join the conference for the 2015 season.

Five schools in The American will sponsor women’s rowing programs in 2015: UCF, UConn, SMU, Temple and Tulsa (joining The American on July 1). With the addition of the Hornets and Aztecs, The American will be a seven-team league for the sport.

“We are pleased to welcome Sacramento State and San Diego State to the American Athletic Conference as associate members,” said Mike Aresco, Commissioner of the American Athletic Conference. “Both schools share many of the attributes of our full membership but most importantly, having the minimum of six schools affords our student-athletes automatic qualifier access to the NCAA women’s rowing championship.

Sacramento State and San Diego State are currently associate members of Conference USA for women’s rowing.

Sacramento State’s rowing squad, which gained intercollegiate status in 1995, will join its second conference in as many years as the team will compete in Conference USA this year before making the transition to The American in 2014-15.

The Hornets had been a member of the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) from 1995-2013, and the WIRA Championship had doubled as the program’s conference championship event. Sacramento State has enjoyed success over the years, combining to win three WIRA team titles over the last eight years, and WIRA varsity eight crowns in 2006 and 2010.

The Hornets compete at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center, which has hosted many regional and national events over the years, including the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championship and the Pac-12 Conference Championship. The Sacramento State Aquatic Center has hosted the NCAA Championship six times since 1997, and will do so again in 2015 and 2016.

“I am happy and grateful we will be joining the American Athletic Conference,” Sacramento State head coach Mike Connors said. “We had talked about competing with a number of these schools in a conference well before the announcement of the AQs for women’s rowing, so it feels great to complete that process. This is an excellent fit for our team and it’s nice to see The American’s commitment to women’s rowing now and into the future.”

“This creates a special opportunity to compete in an elite national conference,” Sacramento State Athletics Director Dr. Terry Wanless said. “We are very excited to partner with The American and its member schools to form a conference that will facilitate the opportunity for our student-athletes to qualify for NCAA postseason competition.”

San Diego State rowing ascended from a club sport to a Division I member in 1997. The 2013-14 season marks the first campaign for head coach Bill Zack and assistants Daniel Duxbury and Heather Crichton. Zack comes to The Mesa after a highly successful two-year stint at the University of Portland.  Coach Zack and his staff usher in a new era in Aztec rowing as the program enters its first year in the American Athletic Conference for the 2015 season.

“The team is very excited to be joining The American,” Head Coach Bill Zack said. “It is an honor to be asked to compete alongside the other schools that will be part of the conference championship for women’s rowing. Our student-athletes are committed to being outstanding representatives of San Diego State and the American Athletic Conference and truly value the opportunity to be members of such an outstanding conference. On behalf of the team I would like to thank all of the conference and university administrators who worked to make this group come together.”

“We are very pleased that the Presidents and leadership of the American Athletic Conference invited our Aztec Rowing program to be an associate member,” Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jim Sterk said. “This new affiliation provides our student-athletes with the opportunity to compete at the highest level in their quest for winning championships, all the while giving our rowing program national exposure. Our associate membership with the American is an ideal fit.  We are proud to be associated with such a well-respected athletic conference and look forward to a lasting partnership.”

The 2014 women’s rowing championship for the inaugural season of The American will be held May 18 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.