GAINESVILLE, Ga. – No. 2 Stanford concluded its 2026 season Sunday with a runner-up team finish at the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships at Lake Lanier Olympic Park.
The Cardinal earned a top-two team finish at the national championship regatta for the sixth consecutive season and has brought home at least one boat national title in the past four years.
The highlight of the competition was the second varsity eight’s fourth consecutive national title, won in record-setting fashion as Stanford crossed the finish line in 5:52.905, more than 18 seconds ahead of the previous record set by Washington in 2019 (6:11.262).
No. 3 Texas won the team national title with 130 points, led by victories in the varsity four and varsity eight races. Stanford followed with 125 points, while No. 1 Tennessee finished third with 119. No. 7 Virginia and No. 6 Yale rounded out the top five with 114 and 103 points, respectively.
Stanford began the final day of the regatta with a fifth-place finish in the varsity four. The Cardinal led entering the final 500 meters, but caught a crab and was unable to recover. Texas won the race with an NCAA Championships record time of 6:35.728, followed by Tennessee (6:41.292), Washington (6:47.654), Rutgers (6:48.982) and Virginia (6:52.692).
Stanford earned its only top finish of the day in the second varsity eight grand final with its fourth consecutive NCAA boat national title. Texas (5:54.761), Virginia (5:58.225), Tennessee (6:02.917), Princeton (6:03.119) and Yale (6:05.691) rounded out the field.
Stanford entered the final race two points behind Texas in the team standings, but a win in the varsity eight gave Texas the national title. Texas finished with an NCAA Championships best time of 5:47.706. Stanford (5:50.160), Tennessee (5:51.450), Virginia (5:52.398), Yale (5:53.412) and Princeton (6:00.056) finished second through sixth, respectively.
Stanford's 2026 season continued the legacy of excellence built by the Cardinal over the past decade, winning its fifth consecutive conference title and second straight Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) team crown while posting a sixth straight top-two finish at the national championships. The Cardinal dominated the ACC end-of-year awards as the varsity eight won its second consecutive Crew of the Year honor and Farwell Family Director of Women’s Rowing Derek Byrnes was named conference coach of the year for the fifth consecutive season.
Lineups
Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Ella Casano
Nora Goodwillie (8)
Célia Dupré (7)
Lia Nathan (6)
Emma Bagrie (5)
Matilda Drewett (4)
Madeleine Greenstock (3)
Annika Jeffery (2)
Quincy Stone (1)
Second Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Carolyn Kennedy
Julia Doss (8)
Martha Shepherd (7)
Claire Van Praagh (6)
Elli Rowley (5)
Leni Koetitz (4)
Alice Baker (3)
Heather Schmidt (2)
Charlotte Jett (1)
Varsity Four
Coxswain: Honor Warburg
Sofia Simone (4)
Carly Brown (3)
Sumner Kerr (2)
Emily Tierney (1)
Results
Varsity Four Grand Final
1. Texas- 6:35.728
2. Tennessee- 6:41.292
3. Washington- 6:47.654
4. Rutgers- 6:48.982
5. Stanford- 6:52.518
6. Virginia- 6:52.692
Second Varsity Eight Grand Final
1. Stanford- 5:52.905*
2. Texas- 5:54.761
3. Virginia- 5:58.225
4. Tennessee- 6:02.917
5. Princeton- 6:03.119
6. Yale- 6:05.691
Varsity Eight Grand Final
1. Texas- 5:47.706
2. Stanford- 5:50.160
3. Tennessee-5:51.450
4. Virginia- 5:52.398
5. Yale- 5:53.412
6. Princeton- 6:00.056
*NCAA Women's Rowing Championships Record