The Stanford women’s crew teams will each have a chance at a championship title this weekend in Rancho Cordova, Calif. Racing on the Lake Natoma course, the women’s lightweight team will look for an easy victory at the Pacific Coast Rowing Champions on Saturday, while the varsity women’s team faces a much more challenging field the next day in the Pacific-10 Conference Championships.

“Things have built up beautifully to [the Pac-10],” said varsity head coach Yasmin Farooq. “Our training program was designed so that we could be at our best by this time of year, and I think we are.”

Sunday morning, the No. 18 Cardinal will square off against five other Pac-10 teams among the top 20 nationally: top-ranked Southern California, No. 8 California, No. 18 UCLA, No. 16 Washington and No. 20 Oregon State.

Of the teams, Stanford has bested both the Bruins and Beavers — at the San Diego Crew Classic and at a dual match in Eugene, Ore. two weekends ago — but has yet to conquer the Lady Trojans and Bears. Both teams left the Cardinal in third in San Diego, while Cal also defeated the women in April’s Big Row.

The Bears have a strong reputation among both the Cardinal and the entire rowing community, having won three straight conference titles and last year’s national title.

“Cal had a slow start to the season, but they’re a national power and they’ve come back, showing that we can’t underestimate them,” Farooq said.

At last year’s Pac-10 Championships, all four Stanford teams advanced to the finals, but only the varsity four could snatch a medal — bronze. The varsity eight started off with the lead in its race, but fell to third and lost that standing midway through to Washington and Washington State. The Cardinal finished fifth, just 4.4 seconds ahead of UCLA. California took the top spot.

This year, however, USC is expected to be the team that sets the standard at the Pac-10 Championships. No. 1 in the nation, the Lady Trojans will likely leave the real competition for second place, especially with national championships on the horizon.

“USC is No. 1, so how the rest of the Pac-10 does relative to them is going to determine how many berths we get to the NCAA,” Farooq said.

No. 18 Stanford may not have the accomplishment of USC or Cal, but Farooq is confident in her “up-and-coming” team’s abilities, especially in light of its improvements throughout the season.

“You can definitely say that Stanford is coming in as the underdog, but it’s a wonderful place to be,” Farooq said.

Farooq also mentioned how that “up-and-coming” status has been recognized among the Pac-10 rowing community with the varsity eight’s third seed for the weekend, ahead of many teams that the Cardinal ranks below nationally.

“Still, we’re going to have to throw down two solid races on Sunday,” she added.

One day before then, the No. 3 lightweight women’s team will most likely have an easier time at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships, also on Lake Natoma. Stanford’s top competition for the PCRC will be California and Loyola Marymount.

The Cardinal has soundly beaten both teams this season — California by 11 seconds in the Big Row and LMU by 18 seconds in the Windermere Classic. Unsurprisingly, lightweight head coach Al Acosta is excited for the weekend’s prospects.

“LMU has gotten faster as the season has progressed, but we’re still confident,” he said. “I’d just say that we’re cautiously optimistic.”

With that attitude, the Cardinal is approaching the PCRC as a checkpoint at the end of its season, in preparation for the real competition to come: The IRA Regatta in June, where it will face top-ranked Wisconsin and No. 2 Princeton (both of which the Cardinal has lost to this season).

A win with a bit of a challenge this weekend will give Stanford the drive to step it up as the national championships near.

“After every race, you hope to come out of the water with a little something to work on, something that didn’t go so well,” Acosta said. “This weekend will show us if we did everything we could in preparation, and if not, it’ll make us ready to go for the IRA.”