No. 4 Virginia Competes at NCAA Championships This Weekend

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The fourth-ranked Virginia rowing team will compete at the 2009 NCAA Championships Friday through Sunday on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J. UVa’s Varsity Eight will compete in the third heat, at 9:15 a.m., followed by the Second Varsity Eight at 9:30 a.m., and the Varsity Four at 10:15 a.m.

Live results are available all weekend at http://villanovarowing.com/ncaa/. Live streaming video is available Saturday and Sunday through the links provided at the top of this story.

Virginia is fresh off an overall team title, south region title and victories in the Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Eight and Novice Eight at the South/Central Regional Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on May 17. Following that competition, Varsity Eight rowers Desiree Burns, Amanda Chase, Jennifer Cromwell and Augusta Stratos were named all-region by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA).

In the Varsity Eight race at regionals, UVa defeated Clemson, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin in the grand final, all teams that will compete at the NCAA Championships this weekend. Rounding out the 16-team field is Brown, California, Dartmouth, Harvard, Oregon State, Princeton, Southern California, Stanford, Washington and Yale.

Virginia has earned a berth to 12 NCAA Championships in the 13-year history of the regatta. The Cavaliers have finished as runner-up at the NCAA Championships three times in school history, most recently in 2007. That year, the Varsity Four was the national champion. In addition to that boat, five Virginia crews have been NCAA Champions: the Second Varsity Eight (1998, 1999, 2005) and the Varsity Four (2004, 2005 and 2007).

Last year, Virginia finished fifth in the team standings behind NCAA Champion Brown, Washington, California and Yale. UVa’s Varsity Four finished second, its Second Varsity Eight finished fourth and its Varsity Eight finished eighth.