Virginia avances three boats to Grand Finals at NCAA Championships

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 4 Virginia advanced all three boats to the grand finals at the NCAA Rowing Championships Saturday (May 29) at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla.

The Cavaliers’ Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Eight and Varsity Four each placed in the top-3 in its A/B semifinal races to advance to Sunday’s (May 30) grand finals.

Virginia was one of five teams to send each of its three crews to the grand finals, joining top-ranked Texas, No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Stanford and No. 5 Michigan.

“Great racing by UVA today,” head coach Kevin Sauer said. “Being one of only five teams to have all three boats in the finals is a testament to everyone believing in each other and racing really hard. We are grateful for the opportunity to compete for a spot on the podium tomorrow.”

UVA’s Varsity Eight placed third behind Stanford (6:08.504) and Washington (6:10.088) with a time of 6:15.426. Brown placed fourth, followed by California and Princeton.

The Cavaliers’ Second Varsity Eight finished third behind Texas (6:11.518) and Stanford (6:13.270) with a time of 6:18.844. Brown placed fourth, while Rutgers and Syracuse finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Virginia’s Varsity Four finished second behind Texas. The Longhorns defeated the Cavaliers 7:00.511-7:03.529. Ohio State placed third followed by Rutgers, Duke and Washington State.

NCAA championship action concludes Sunday. Virginia’s first race will be the Varsity Four grand final at 10 a.m., followed by the Second Varsity Eight grand final (10:24 a.m.) and Varsity Eight grand final (10:48 a.m.). Live results and video streaming links are available on NCAA.com.