Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Day One
Princeton Sends All Three Boats To Saturday Semifinals At NCAA Championships
May 27, 2011 | Women's Rowing - Open
RESULTS/SATURDAY SCHEDULE l WATCH LIVE SATURDAY
Winning time is for Sunday. On Friday at the 2011 NCAA Rowing Championships, qualifying was the name of the game, and the top-ranked Princeton Tigers were a perfect 3-for-3.
The Princeton varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four each qualified for one of the 12 spots in Saturday's NCAA Championship semifinals. The semifinal heats will begin at 9 a.m. PDT with the varsity eights, which will be followed by the second eights (9:30) and fours (10). The top three from each semifinal will qualify for Sunday's grand finals, while the bottom three will each go to the petite finals.
Each of the three boats are building on the momentum of Princeton's dominant performance at the 2011 EAWRC Championships, when the Tigers took the top four gold medals, including one for each of the three boats in the NCAA field.
The Princeton varsity eight, which went 13-0 on the regular season and is ranked first in the latest national poll, won its opening heat in 6:23.84, more than three seconds faster than second-place Michigan State. Virginia, the 2010 NCAA champion, also qualified for the semifinals by finishing more than six seconds faster than Washington.
The second varsity eight also had gone undefeated during the regular season, but a top-three finish was all that was necessary Friday. The Tigers raced with Brown through the first 1,000 and trailed by only a second, but with a significant edge over fourth-place Michigan, there was no need for a late surge. Brown won the heat in 6:36.74, while Ohio State took second in 6:39.27. Princeton qualified in 6:41.20, which was more than eight seconds faster than Michigan and more than 18 seconds faster than Clemson.
The varsity four found itself in a similar circumstance as the varsity eight. California took control of its opening heat, which Ohio State and Princeton were both well ahead of Michigan State and Clemson for the key second and third spots. Ohio State finished second in 7:26.96, while Princeton took third in 7:29.38, more than 15 seconds faster than Michigan State.