Women's rowing qualify for ninth straight national championship

The Stanford women varsity four enter next weekend's NCAA tournament as the 11th seed in the respective competitive field and will travel with the Cardinal to New Jersey during next weekend's action. Stanford was one of eleven teams to earn an at-large bid and one of twenty-two teams to compete for the national championship. (DAVID BERNAL/isiphotos.com)

By Lorenzo Rosas on May 16, 2017

Despite a disappointing performance in the Pac-12 conference championships, Tuesday’s selection announcement for the NCAA Division One Rowing Championship included the No. 8 Stanford women’s team as one of a total 22 teams selected and one of 11 teams given an at-large bid.

The Cardinal will enter next weekend’s national championships as the sixth-seed in the varsity eight, 12th-seed in the second varsity eights and 11th seed in the varsity fours. This year’s selection marks the ninth consecutive year that Stanford will be a part of the championship tournament and the 12th appearance overall.

Stanford earned their bid after finishing third in the conference championships last weekend, falling behind Washington and Cal who finished first and second in the conference respectively. The Huskies and Golden Bears also own the No. 1 and No. 2 respective seedings in all three categories of the championship tournament.

The last time Stanford won the team national championship was in 2009. The women’s team rowed to fourth during last year’s tournament with the varsity eight highlighting the Cardinal’s performance by placing third in their final.

The national championship will take place on the weekend of May 26-28 at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, New Jersey. The Grand Finals will take place after a series of heat and semifinal competitions on Friday and Saturday. All the tournament action, including up-to-date news, results and webcasts can be followed on NCAA.com.

Contact Lorenzo Rosas at enzor9 ‘at’ stanford.edu.