Inclement weather forecasts across New Jersey have precipitated changes to the racing schedules at both national championships this weekend. For the women at the NCAAs, they opted to race earlier, starting at 7:12 a.m. local time. However, despite the changed schedule, the early bird got some brilliant racing as the division two and three national champions were crowned, and the division one racing rose to a crescendo with an electric set of semifinals.
The morning opened with the top division one semifinals. In the first, #5 Yale and #4 Tennessee jumped out to an early controlling lead, but the race for third between #8 Brown and #9 Virginia was far closer. The Cavaliers had the early advantage, but Brown pulled out to a lead in the tailwind, eventually squeezing Tennessee in a fight for second as Virginia, #10 California and #17 Indiana will race in the petite final.
The other semifinal, including all three of the JRN media poll’s top three teams, had a field quality more reminiscent of the final: joined by numbers six, seven and 11. Despite the rankings, it was #6 Princeton who got the best start, placing them in contention with the major powers, with #3 Washington further back in the field. As the race unwound, #1 Stanford and #2 Texas asserted their rankings, while the diesel engine of Washington was able to finally get ahead of the fast-starting Princeton in the third 500 metre, as the Tigers paid for their opening explosiveness, with the top three schools progressed, in order, for tomorrow’s final.
In the second eight, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Yale matched the progression of their first crew, but there were two alternative teams to make the progression. In the first semi, Virginia won a tight battle for the final qualification spot, while Princeton led the second semi from start to finish.
In the fours, the same four programmes completed the perfect set of progressions, but there was some shock, as Stanford experienced their first loss in an NCAA boat all year, with Texas’ four winning the second semifinal in harsh conditions. Rounding out the field was #7 Rutgers from the first semi, while Tennessee gained the final spot over #12 Syracuse by three-tenths of a second.
Following the AB semifinals, the lower divisions held their finals. In division three, the first national championship of the year was won by the Tufts Jumbos. Both Medford-based crews took early leads in their respective finals, and while their second eight remained comfortable throughout, the first eight were pushed all the way. Either way, the Jumbos swept the field to win their second successive national championships, with Williams in second.
In the grand final, the Embry-Riddle eagles came out on top, rowing through Western Washington in the final 500 metres. However, the title decider had to wait ten hours for the final race of the day. In that event it was Humboldt who led the entire way, with Central Oklahoma in second. The morning’s results mean that this win could only rise Humboldt to second overall, with Embry-Riddle claiming the all-important team title.
For the division one crews, the afternoon session was just for the CD semifinals as the top crews stayed at their hotels to prepare for Sunday’s racing. With four crews making exclusively grand finals and those four teams coming from four different conferences, we are set for an exciting finale to a phenomenal NCAA season.
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