2017 NCAA Rowing Championship Field Announced
May 16, 2017
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – No. 11 Virginia is one of 22 schools selected for the 2017 NCAA Rowing Championship, the NCAA announced Tuesday (May 16). The national regatta will be held May 26-28 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.
UVA earned the Atlantic Coast Conference’s automatic bid after claiming its eighth consecutive league championship on May 14. The Cavaliers won four of five events at the ACC Championship, including the Varsity Eight, Varsity Four, Second Varsity Four and Third Varsity Eight.
Colette Lucas-Conwell (Palo Alto, Calif.), Ellen Pate (Lafayette, Calif.), Georgia Ratcliff (Falls Church, Va.) and Erin Briggs (Orono, Minn.) were named to the All-ACC Rowing first team and Allie Nicholson (Charlottesville, Va.) was a second-team selection.
In addition to Virginia, Washington (Pac-12), Central Florida (American), Gonzaga (West Coast), Jacksonville (MAAC), Princeton (Ivy), Massachusetts (A-10), Navy (Patriot), Northeastern (Colonial), Ohio State (Big Ten) and Texas (Big 12) all earned its conferences’ automatic spots.
The 11 schools that earned at-large selections were Brown, California, Michigan, Stanford, Wisconsin, Yale, Syracuse, Washington State, Indiana, Iowa and Notre Dame.
The Cavaliers are seeded No. 12 in the Varsity Eight, No. 11 in the Second Varsity Eight and No. 8 in the Varsity Four.
Virginia placed third at last year’s national championship with 112 points. UVA’s Varsity Four highlighted the regatta with a third-place finish, while the Second Varsity Eight placed fourth and the Varsity Eight finished fifth.
In their 19 NCAA Championship appearances in the last 20 years, the Cavaliers have finished in the top four 11 times (1997-2000, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009-10, 2012, 2016) and have been runners-up three times (1999, 2005, 2007).
UVA captured NCAA team championships in 2010 and 2012. The Varsity Eight boat won the NCAA title in 2012, while the Second Varsity Eight won championships in 1998, 1999 and 2005. The Varsity Four claimed national championships in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2015.