CAPE COD, Mass. - Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Commissioner Rudy Keeling in conjunction with the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Board of Stewards announced today that the 107^th IRA Championships will be held June 4-6, 2009 on Lake Natoma, in Gold River, Calif.  The championships will be hosted by the Sacramento Sports Commission and the Sacramento State Aquatic Center, and will be administered by the Aquatic Center Staff and the ECAC.  The University of Wisconsin will look to defend its 2008 crowns in the heavyweight men's eight and lightweight women's eight, while Cornell will try to repeat as champions in the lightweight men's eight. The University of Washington is the defending champion in the Jim Ten Eyck team points championship. 

Commissioner Keeling, upon making the official announcement, said he was delighted with the move of the championships to Sacramento in 2009. "We have been working for a year with the Sacramento Sports Commission and the Aquatic Center, and I am pleased that we can showcase the best of American intercollegiate rowing on the West Coast. We hope this is only the first of many visits to a part of the country that has a longstanding and deep-seated tradition in the sport of rowing."

John McCasey, Executive Director of the Sacramento Sports Commission was equally enthusiastic about the prospect of bringing the IRA to Lake Natoma. "Sacramento has a history of hosting world class events, and we are honored to be the first community in this part of the U.S. to stage an event of this stature.  We intend to put on an outstanding event and look forward to working with the Aquatic Center and the ECAC over the next ten months."

Brian Dulgar, Sacramento State Aquatic Center Director, agreed with McCasey's assessment. "The Aquatic Center has a long history of hosting collegiate rowing championships at the highest level, including the WIRA, Pac-10 and NCAA Women's National Championships multiple times.  We are looking forward to setting a new standard for IRA Championships, and believe that the Sports Commission and ECAC will ensure that we all put forth our best efforts in 2009."

The nation's oldest collegiate rowing championship, the IRA was first held in 1895 on the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, New York. Poughkeepsie was home to the regatta for all but two years through 1951.  Most recently Syracuse (1952-1992, and 1994), and Camden, N.J. (1993 and 1995-2008) have served as regatta sites.  The 2009 championships will be the first ever held on the West Coast.

About the ECAC®
The ECAC is the nation's largest athletic and the only multi-divisional conference in the country with 321 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities.  The ECAC stretches from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors more than 100 championships in 37 men's and women's sports and assigns more than 4,400 officials in 12 sports.  The ECAC also administers eight affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues, and through the public relations arm of the conference, more than 2,500 student-athletes in 23 sports are recognized annually.  Finally, the ECAC serves as the primary conference for select members in the sports of men's and women's ice hockey and men's lacrosse.

About the Sacramento Sports Commission
The Sacramento Sports Commission is a joint city-county advisory board created in the 1980s to attract and develop major professional and amateur sporting events in the capital region. In 1998, the Sports Commission formed a non-profit organization - the Sacramento Region Sports Education Foundation - to administer SSC events. Since its inception in 1988, the Sports Commission has been responsible for bringing a number of high profile events to Sacramento, including the 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, the 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championships, the 1995 U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the 1999 John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships, the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Track and Field and the 2001 National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships.

About the Sacramento State Aquatic Center
Located on the shores of beautiful Lake Natoma, the Sacramento State Aquatic Center has been the venue for many of the Western United States most notable rowing championships, as well as the inaugural NCAA Women's Division I, II, and III National Championships in 1997.  The Aquatic Center is a cooperative operation of the Associated Students Inc. of California State University, Sacramento, the University Union of Sac State, California Department of Boating and Waterways, and the California Department of Parks and Recreation. The center was established in 1981 as a boating instructional safety center and has provided instruction to thousands of students with its diverse curriculum, including: rowing, sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, water skiing, wake boarding, powerboat instruction, and special events.  The center offers university kinesiology classes, leisure classes for the general public, competitive teams, and a series of progressive summer camps and youth programs. The center was established to augment the academic curriculum at Sacramento State, and is open to students, faculty, staff, and alumni as well as the general public.