PENNSAUKEN, N.J. - Stanford opened competition at the NCAA Championships with a clean sweep of its qualifying heats on Friday morning at Cooper River Park.
Chasing its first NCAA title since 2009, the Cardinal advanced all three boats to Saturday's A/B semifinals thanks to convincing victories across the board.
Stanford's varsity eight set the tone with a dominant victory to begin the morning, crossing the finish line at 6:26.549 and out-distancing California (6:35.995), Brown (6:38.953), Ohio State (6:42.127), Gonzaga (7:06.187) and Jacksonville (7:24.581).
The second varsity eight kept the momentum going, clocking in at 6:38.197 to lead a pack that included Washington (6:42.507), Michigan (6:50.021), Duke (6:53.271), Gonzaga (7:24.711) and Navy (7:46.601).
The varsity four closed out Friday's action with a first-place effort at 7:32.940, besting Princeton (7:34.460), Ohio State (7:36.340), Syracuse (7:38.830), Northeastern (8:20.400) and Jacksonville (8:24.090).
Stanford resumes racing on Saturday morning with all races streamed live on NCAA.com.
Lineups
Varsity Eight
C: Rachel Miller
8: Luise Bachmann
7: Célia Dupré
6: Annabelle Bachmann
5: Lucy Burrell
4: Annika Jeffery
3: Azja Czajkowski
2: Katelin Gildersleeve
1: Lettie Cabot
Second Varsity Eight
C: Carolyn Kennedy
8: Belle Battistoni
7: Alice Baker
6: Fiona Mooney
5: Iris Klok
4: Nora Goodwillie
3: Beckie Leigh
2: Julietta Camahort
1: Heather Schmidt
Varsity Four
C: Abbey Heinemann
4: Brie Perry
3: Lucy Black
2: Caia Costello
1: Julia Braz