SAN DIEGO, Calif. Kansas State’s First Varsity and First Novice Eights moved on to the grand final at the 33rd annual San Diego Crew Classic regatta held Saturday afternoon on Mission Bay.

Both Wildcat boats finished second in their respective heats to advance in just their second race of the spring season. The First Varsity Eight crossed the finish line two-tenths of a second behind Sacramento State (6:44.13), but fended off top crews from Wisconsin, Villanova, Long Beach State and Santa Clara for a spot in tomorrow’s grand final in the Women’s Cal Cup. The Wildcats will go up against heat-winner Sacramento State along with Navy, Miami, UC Davis and Saint Joseph’s at 11 a.m. (PT).

Meanwhile, the First Novice Eight found similar success with a second-place finish to Cal (6:56.49) in the Women’s Collegiate Novice race. The Novices rowed well in the first 1,000m, but tried to push a little too hard at the end with a few mistakes along the way. They will compete with the four-heat winners including Cal, Texas, Oregon State, Stanford and Notre Dame in tomorrow’s grand final at 9:50 a.m. (PT).

In the Women’s JV competition, the Second Varsity Eight placed fourth (6:56.87) behind top crews from Stanford, Cal and Northeastern. The Wildcats will compete in the petite final with Notre Dame, Northeastern, San Diego State, San Diego and Big 12 Conference rival Texas at 9 a.m. (PT).

“They were right on target and the results are what we were hoping for with the Varsity and Novices making the grand final,” Kansas State head coach Patrick Sweeney said. “We ran into a slight crosswind, but that didn’t affect the conditions much for us. With the First Varsity Eight, they rowed a good race for the first 1,500m and were very consistent. The Novice Eight did well, but there was a little inexperience finishing at the end of the race, but they still handled it quite well though. Overall, there are some very good crews we are competing against here (like Cal and Stanford) and it gives us a taste of what championship racing is like with six-lane racing and fast competition.”

Complete race results from the San Diego Crew Classic can be accessed at: www.crewclassic.org.

SAN DIEGO CREW CLASSIC

April 1-2

Mission Bay

at San Diego, Calif.

WOMEN’S CAL CUP (HEAT C) FIRST VARSITY EIGHT

1, Sacramento State, 6:42:10, 2, Kansas State, 6:44:13, 3, Wisconsin, 6:45:25, 4, Villanova, 6:51:92, 5, Long Beach State, 6:55:47, 6, Santa Clara, 7:05:25, 7, Orange Coast, 7:13:16.

WOMEN’S JV  (HEAT A) SECOND VARSITY EIGHT

1, Cal, 6:38:20, 2, Stanford, 6:41:45, 3, Northeastern, 6:48:86, 4, Kansas State, 6:56:87, 5, Sacramento State, 7:01:18, 6, San Diego (B), 7:35:36.

WOMEN’S COLLEGIATE NOVICE (Heat A) FIRST NOVICE EIGHT

1, Cal, 6:49:00, 2, Kansas State, 6:56:49, 3, Notre Dame, 6:59:64, 4, Sacramento State, 7:09:51, 5  Orange Coast, 7:55:69.