NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale women's crew is ready to compete on the national stage – again. The Bulldogs are in Sarasota, Fla., for the 2022 NCAA Women's Rowing Championship, their 19th appearance at NCAAs in their last 20 seasons. Yale, ranked No. 4 in the latest CRCA national poll, should be a contender for the team title. Three crews – the varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four, will compete. Racing begins on Friday at Nathan Benderson Park and concludes with Sunday's finals. NCAA.com will stream all the racing live.
The Bulldogs have finished in the top 10 in 15 of their last 17 appearances, including an eighth-place finish in 2019, their last appearance.
All three Yale crews have top seeds. The varsity eight, which posted a 19-1 record during the regular season, is seeded fifth. The undefeated second varsity eight, which captured the Ivy League championship, is the No. 2 seed, while the varsity four, which also went undefeated in the regular season, is seeded ninth.
"We are fired up to see where we stack up against the top teams in the nation," said
Will Porter, Friends of YWC Head Coach of the Bulldogs.
FORMAT
The NCAA Championships feature 22 teams, which compete for a national title based on a points system that weighs the finish of each boat in its respective race.
The championship begins with four heats for each of the three boats – the first varsity eight, second varsity eight, and varsity four – on Friday. The top two boats from each heat advance to the A/B semifinals while the remaining crews proceed to the repechage races on Friday afternoon. The top two crews from the repechages also advance to the A/B semifinals while the remainders are placed in the C/D semifinals.
From there, the top three boats in each of the A/B semifinals move onto the grand final with the remainder proceeding to the petite final. The top three crews in the C/D semifinals advance to the C final while the rest compete in the D final.
In the finals, each boat earns points based off its finish in its race, and the program with the most points between its three crews at the conclusion of all the races earns the title of NCAA Champion.
THE SCHEDULE
First to race on Friday for Yale will be the varsity eight in heat 4, scheduled for 9:36 a.m. The Bulldogs face Northeastern, SMU, Brown, Virginia and Rhode Island. The second varsity eight races Gonzaga, Ohio State, California and Rutgers in heat 2 at 10 a.m. The varsity four is in heat 1 at 10:36 a.m. and races Penn, Texas, Southern California and Syracuse.
NCAA HISTORY
The Bulldogs' best finish at the NCAA Championship came in 2004 when they were second. Yale has 16 top-10 finishes.
The Bulldogs have had one crew win a grand final four times. The varsity eight finished first in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and the second varsity won in 2009.
In its last appearance at NCAAs in Indianapolis in 2019, Yale finished eighth with 83 points.
FAMILIAR WITH FIELD
Yale has already faced five of the 21 other schools competing at the NCAA Championship. The Bulldogs swept Penn, Syracuse and Northeastern in the NCAA boats and won the second varsity eight and varsity four vs. Princeton during the regular season. In addition, Yale saw Brown at the Ivy League Championship.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Bulldogs enter the championship ranked fourth nationally. Yale was No. 12 in the preseason poll but after a strong season-opening performance at the Cardinal Invitational vaulted to No. 4. The Bulldogs' highest ranking was second in the Mar. 30 and Apr. 6 polls. Yale faced five schools currently ranked in the top 20 in the regular season – No. 5 Princeton, No. 11 Penn, No. 13 Syracuse, No. 17 Indiana and No. 19 Tennessee. In addition, the Bulldogs raced Harvard, Clemson, Alabama, Northeastern, Michigan State, Columbia, Iowa, Louisville and Wisconsin, who are all receiving votes.
PROBABLE YALE BOATINGS
Varsity Eight
Bow:
Maya Meschkuleit, So., Mississauga, Canada
2.
Emmeline Laurence, Jr., Greenland, N.H.
3.
Lucy Edmunds, Jr., North Yorkshire, Great Britain
4.
Lauren Carey, So., Harrogate, England & Cape Town, South Africa
5.
Maddie Moore, Fy., Naples, Fla.
6.
Veronica Wall, Jr., Ashburton, New Zealand
7.
Margaret Hedeman, Jr., Concord, Mass.
Stroke:
Claire Dirks, Sr., Toronto, Ontario
Cox:
Aparajita Chauhan, Sr., Seattle, Wash.
Second Varsity Eight
Bow:
Mette Køchs-Nielsen, Jr., Aarhus, Denmark
2.
Christina Bourmpou, Fy., Thessaloniki, Greece
3.
Anna Scott, Jr., Denver, Colo.
4.
Mia Levy, Fy., Des Moines, Iowa
5.
Phoebe Campbell, Sr., North Molton, Great Britain
6.
Anna Matthes, Jr., Belmont, Mass.
7.
Nicole Martinez, Fy., Asuncion, Paraguay
Stroke:
Katie King-Smith, Sr., Oxford, United Kingdom
Cox:
Esha Bhattacharya, So., San Ramon, Calif.
Varsity Four
Bow:
Marie Ramm, Fy., Birkereod, Denmark
2.
Charlotte Fennell, Jr., Amersham, England
3.
Christiana Congdon, Jr., Stonington, Conn.
Stroke:
Hannah Johns, Jr., Longmeadow, Mass.
Cox:
Grace Menke, So., Sarasota, Fla.
Spares
Sophie Houston, So., Sydney, Australia
Clare Naughton, Jr., Burlington, Mass.
