No. 1 Virginia Wins Varsity Four Semi; Advances To All Three NCAA Grand Finals
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GOLD RIVER, Calif. – After the second day of competition at the 2010 NCAA Championships on Lake Natoma at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center, the top-ranked Virginia rowing team qualified for all three of Sunday’s grand finals in the Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Eight and Varsity Four.
No. 1 Virginia and No. 3 California are the only two schools to have a boat in each of the finals. The Varsity Eight will race at 12:05 p.m. (3:05 p.m. Eastern Time) on Sunday with UVa competing against Yale, California, Princeton, Stanford and USC. Places first through sixth will be up for grabs in that event, with point totals of 48, 45, 42, 39, 36 and 33 on the line.
“The goal for today was to get everybody into the finals, and we did that,” Virginia head coach Kevin Sauer said. “Tomorrow, there is an opportunity.”
In its semifinal, Virginia’s Varsity Eight finished third (6:17.69) behind Yale (6:16.54) and California (6:16.60). In the other semifinal, Princeton (6:18.76), Stanford (6:20.12) and USC (6:24.01) were first, second and third, respectively.
In the Second Varsity Eight semifinal, Virginia found itself in fourth place at the 500-meter mark. After moving into third place at the 750-meter mark, Virginia held off Washington and then streaked ahead of California at the end of the race to finish in second place with a time of 6:32.79. Brown (6:27.84) was first in that semifinal and Cal finished third (6:32.89). In the other semifinal, Stanford (6:28.94), Princeton (6:33.24) and Michigan (6:34.40) were the top three finishers.
The Second Varsity Eight grand final will be at 11:15 a.m. (2:15 p.m. Eastern Time) and the Cavaliers will face Brown, Cal, Stanford, Princeton and Michigan. Places first through sixth garner 32, 30, 28, 26, 24 and 22 points, respectively.
Virginia’s Varsity Four, meanwhile, continued its hot streak with a victory in its semifinal. The Cavaliers led from start to finish and broke their own NCAA record with a time of 7:07.28. USC was second (7:13.55) followed by Wisconsin (7:13.95).
Joining those three teams in Sunday’s grand final (10:25 a.m. / 1:25 p.m. Eastern Time) will be Cal, Washington and Brown. First place is worth 16 points, and decreases by increments of one until sixth place is worth 11 points.
Tomorrow’s races will be available to watch online via this link (also at the top of this page). Live results are available here.
Check back to VirginiaSports.com this afternoon for lane assignments for Sunday’s finals.
2010 NCAA Championships
May 29 | Lake Natoma (Gold River, Calif.)
Results of Semifinals
Varsity Eight Semifinal: 1. Yale (6:16.54), 2. California (6:16.60), 3. VIRGINIA (6:17.69), 4. Michigan State (6:23.97), 5. UCLA (6:27.21), 6. Washington (6:32.46)
Varsity Eight Semifinal 2: 1. Princeton (6:18.76), 2. Stanford (6:20.12), 3. USC (6:24.01), 4. Michigan (6:30.09), 5. Brown (6:30.80), 6. Wisconsin (6:34.34)
Second Varsity Eight Semifinal 1: 1. Brown (6:27.84), 2. VIRGINIA (6:32.79), 3. California (6:32.89), 4. Washington (6:38.89), 5. Michigan State (6:41.18), 6. Yale (6:46.82)
Second Varsity Eight Semifinal 2: 1. Stanford (6:28.94), 2. Princeton (6:33.24), 3. Michigan (6:34.40), 4. Wisconsin (6:38.09), 5. Washington State (6:41.19), 6. Ohio State (6:43.71)
Varsity Four Semifinal 1: 1. VIRGINIA (7:07.28), 2. USC (7:13.55), 3. Wisconsin (7:13.95), 4. Princeton (7:18.11), 5. Michigan (7:23.00), 6. Clemson (7:29.68)
Varsity Four Semifinal 2: 1. California (7:13.22), 2. Washington (7:14.41), 3. Brown (7:17.73), 4. Stanford (7:21.36), 5. Michigan State (7:24.54), 6. Yale (7:27.23)
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, Chelsea Simpson, Inge Janssen