May 20, 1998
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia women’s rowing team is one of eight team qualifiers for the second NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships scheduled for May 29-31 in Gainesville, Ga. The competition is scheduled for the 1996 Olympic course at Lake Lanier.
The other team qualifiers are Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Massachusetts, Michigan, Princeton and Washington.
As a team qualifier, Virginia will send three crews to the NCAA Championships. The eight schools competing for the team title will have one crew in each of the contested races – the first varsity eight, the second varsity eight and the varsity four.
Eight additional schools received at-large invitations to compete in the first varsity eight competition and eight additional schools received at-large invitations to compete in the varsity four competition. A boat from a school receiving an at-large invitation may win an individual title, but without an entry in all three races, the school is ineligible for the team title.
Virginia’s second varsity eight finished first as the Cavaliers won the overall team competition at the Central Region Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on May 16. UVa finished second in the varsity eight competition and fifth in the varsity four competition at the Central Region Championships.
Virginia’s women’s rowing team is in its third season as an intercollegiate sport at UVa. The Cavaliers finished fourth in the team competition at the first NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships last year. Virginia finished third in the second varsity eight competition, fifth in the first varsity eight and 11th in the varsity four competition at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Washington is the defending NCAA team champion.