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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The top-ranked Virginia rowing team will compete at the 2010 NCAA Championships Friday through Sunday on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif. The regatta is structured into heats and repechages (Friday, May 28), semifinals (Saturday, May 29) and finals (Sunday, May 30). Live results are available all weekend at VirginiaSports.com.

Virginia is fresh off an overall team title, south region title and victories in the Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Eight and Varsity Four at the South/Central Regional Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on May 16. Following that competition, Varsity Eight rowers Desiree Burns, Jennifer Cromwell, Katrin Reinert, Helen Tompkins and coxswain Sidney Thorsten were named all-region by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA).

In addition, Virginia head coach Kevin Sauer was named the South Region Coach of the Year by the CRCA. Sauer earned the distinction for the third time in his 15-year career as UVa’s head coach. He was also named the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year on April 24.

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

Virginia earned a berth to 13 NCAA Championships in the 14-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, 2007).

Last year, Virginia finished fourth in the team standings behind NCAA Champion Stanford, California and Yale. The runner-up finish for the Varsity Eight in 2009 tied the highest in program history, besting a third-place finish in 2000. The Cavaliers also finished second in 1999.

Tentative UVa NCAA Line-Ups
Varsity Eight
Coxswain Sidney Thorsten, Jennifer Cromwell, Katrin Reinert, Desiree Burns, Kristine O’Brien, Martha Kuzzy, Helen Tompkins, Nora Phillips, Summers Nelson

Second Varsity Eight
Coxswain Cristine Candland, Victoria Burke, Marie Long, Lauren Hutchins, Sarah Borchelt, Caroline Sweeny, Christine Roper, Claudia Blandford, Lauren Shook

Varsity Four
Coxswain Sarah Pichardo, Ruth Retzinger, Hunter Terry, Chelseas Simpson, Inge Janssen

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