May 23, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. -
STANFORD, Calif. - No. 11 Stanford women's rowing travels to West Windsor, N.J. this weekend for its fourth straight team appearance at the NCAA Championships.
The competition, which takes place on the waters of Lake Mercer, runs from Friday to Sunday. The I Eight qualifying heats open up the Division I competition, with the Cardinal boat taking part in the third heat at 6:30 a.m. PT (9:30 a.m. ET).
This weekend marks the seventh overall team appearance for the Cardinal at the NCAA Championships, while the I Eight makes its 10th appearance at the event. From 1997-2008, individual I Eight boats were selected to the event, while since 2009 the NCAA changed the format and now selects 16 full teams of three boats (I Eight, II Eight, Four) to participate.
Stanford captured the NCAA team title in 2009, and missed out on the 2011 title by five-hundredths of a second. Last year, Stanford and Brown tied atop the points standings with 85 apiece, but Brown was awarded the team title by winning the tiebreaker, the higher finish in the I Eight grand final.
Individually, Stanford has won a pair of NCAA titles. The I Eight captured national gold in 2009, while the II Eight brought home the gold last year. The I Eight has previously won a silver medal (2008) and two bronze (2003, 2011) while the II Eight won silver in 2010.
Stanford's I Eight will participate in the third qualifying heat Friday, May 25, at 6:30 a.m. PT. Competing against the Cardinal in that heat will be California, Ohio State, Princeton, Wisconsin and Notre Dame.
The II Eight begins defense of its 2011 national title in its class' second qualifying heat at 7 a.m. PT against Michigan, Yale, Virginia and Notre Dame.
The Four will race in the second heat of its class, taking on Virginia, Washington, UCLA and Michigan at 7:45 a.m. PT.
Each class of boat features three qualifying heats on the opening day of competition. The top three boats in each heat will advance to Saturday's semifinals. Boats that do not qualify for the semifinals in the qualifying heats will go to the repechage race Friday afternoon, where the top three boats in that contest fill out the final three semifinal spots.