No. 10 UVA To Begin NCAA Rowing Championships Friday

May 24, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 10 Virginia will compete in the 2017 NCAA Rowing Championships Friday-Sunday (May 26-28) on Mercer Lake in West Windsor Township, N.J.

Live results and video streaming links will be available through VirginiaSports.com and NCAA.com. NCAA Division I action is set to begin at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Each division (Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Eight and Varsity Four) has four heats in the morning on Friday, with the top two from each heat moving on to Saturday’s semifinals. The remaining boats will race in a repechage to determine the final four semifinalists in each division.

Virginia’s Varsity Eight, which is seeded 12th, will be in action in the fourth heat at 9:36 a.m. UVA’s 11th-seeded Second Varsity Eight is in the third heat at 10:12 a.m., while the eighth-seeded Varsity Four is in the first heat at 10:36 a.m.

The semifinals begin Saturday at 8:12 a.m. with the V8, followed by the 2V8 and the V4, while the finals will take place on Sunday. Division I grand and petite finals (places 1-12) begin at 10 a.m. with the final race of the weekend being the Varsity Eight grand final at 11 a.m.

The Cavaliers, who are making their 20th NCAA championship appearance, earned the Atlantic Coast Conference’s automatic NCAA bid after claiming their eighth consecutive league championship on May 14. 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 for the NCAA Championships.

The 11 schools that earned at-large selections were Brown, California, Michigan, Stanford, Wisconsin, Yale, Syracuse, Washington State, Indiana, Iowa and Notre Dame.

Virginia placed third at last year’s national championship with 112 points. UVA’s Varsity Four placed third, 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.

Projected Virginia Lineups

Varsity Eight
Coxswain Colette Lucas-Conwell, Stroke: Allie Nicholson, 7: Anna Fairs, 6: Erin Briggs, 5: Georgia Ratcliff, 4: Jane Hudson, 3: Ellen Pate, 2: Heidi Long, Bow: Alice Darry

Second Varsity Eight
Coxswain Izzi Weiss, Stroke: Reilly White, 7: Karen Schulte, 6: Alex Slabbert, 5: Morgan Rosts, 4: Isabella Strickler, 3: Grace Tuttle, 2: Ali Zwicker, Stroke: Toni Wiersma

Varsity Four
Coxswain Maria Zeris, Stroke: Jo Gurman, 3: Mackenzie Springer, 2: Mackenzie King, Bow: Lizzie Trull