The battle begins.

This weekend, Cal women's crew heads to Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif., to race for the NCAA Division I Women's Rowing Championships.

The Bears will compete for the team title against twelve teams from across the country, each of which is required to field boats in the varsity eight, second varsity eight, and varsity four.

Among the teams vying for the title are defending champions Brown, Harvard, Michigan State, Ohio State, Princeton, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, Washington State, Wisconsin, and 2007 varsity eight victors from Yale. Cal's varsity eight will also compete against at-large varsity boats from Clemson, Michigan, USC, and Stanford.

"We've seen the list, and we know that there will be several teams bringing three fast boats to NCAAs," said junior co-captain Lou Kinder. "I think the racing will be really tough and really fun."

Last weekend, the Bears won the Pac-10 team championship with wins in the varsity eight, second varsity eight, and novice eight, as well as a second place finish in the varsity four. These results garnered an invitation to the national championships for Cal-their tenth consecutive bid.

"It says a lot about our program that it's the 10th year in a row that we've gone as a team," coach Dave O'Neill said. "I'm really glad that it was clear that we would be selected and were not a bubble team."

At last year's national championship, Cal took thirteenth in the varsity eight, second in the second varsity eight, and third in the varsity four, which gave them enough points to take seventh as a team. However, after winning the team title the previous two years, seventh place was not up to par with the Bears' standards.

This year, Cal hopes to regain the title.

But it won't be easy. The varsity eight will have to put up a fight against this year's Eastern Sprints champions Brown and defending national champions Yale. The Bears have not faced these two teams since last year's national championship, but the team plans on maintaining its internal attitude, which seems to have worked throughout the season.

"It's hard to know what to expect exactly," said Kinder. "We know they're going to be fast, but we're going to focus on ourselves."

Since 2004, the Bears' second varsity eight has won the Pac-10 title only to place second at the national championship. After a somewhat unpredictable season-losing most of their races but winning the Pac-10 championship-Cal's second boat hopes to break their NCAA losing streak with another win for the Bears.

Cal's varsity four also hopes to make improvements at the national championships. The only Bears boat that didn't win at the Pac-10 Championships, the four seems to believe they can find the speed to nab a win at nationals.

"I definitely think we can find the speed between now and NCAAs," said junior Melissa Herman.

As a whole, the Bears are shoring up for a battle to come against the nation's fastest teams.

"Nationals is sort of like a celebration of the all work we've put in throughout the year," Kinder said. "We've done a lot, so it should be a good time."

Tags: NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS