SARASOTA, Fla. – It was a glorious start to the NCAA Championship for the Yale women's crew. All three Yale crews posted top-two finishes in the morning heats to advance to Saturday's A/B semifinals.
First up was the No. 5 seed varsity eight, which posted a time of 6:15.202 to place second, comfortably ahead of third-place SMU, which had a time of 6:18.181. Brown finished first in 6:13.306. Virginia (6:26.313) was fourth followed by Northeastern (6:40.316) and Rhode Island (7:00.823).
Yale's varsity eight Saturday semifinal is set for 8:48 a.m. The Bulldogs race Virginia, Washington, Stanford, Princeton and Michigan. The top three finishers in each semifinal move on to Sunday's grand final. The fourth through sixth-place finishers compete in the petite final.
The undefeated and No. 2 seeded second varsity eight used a dominant, wire-to-wire victory in its heat to advance to the semis. The Bulldogs had a time of 6:12.014, more that four seconds faster than second-place California (6:16.858). The Bears had a comfortable margin over third place Ohio State (6:19.866). Rutgers (6:27.140) was fourth followed by Gonzaga (6:58.528).
The second varsity eight semifinal is at 9:36 a.m. on Saturday vs. Michigan, Virginia, Stanford, SMU and Ohio State.
The varsity four, seeded ninth, finished second in its heat, edging No. 8 seed Southern California by more than three seconds to advance. Yale had a time of 7:04.101 to USC's 7:07.381. Texas finished first in 6:56.663. Syracuse (7:22.790) was fourth followed by Penn (7:30.407).
The varsity four will race in Saturday's semifinal at 10:24 a.m. against California, Ohio State, Stanford, Princeton and Southern California.
Despite the strong opening day,
Will Porter, Friends of YWC Head Coach of the Bulldogs, knows there is still more work ahead.
"We are so grateful to be back here racing. We are just trying to go race by race and day by day," he said. "This is a long regatta, and every race is tight. Tomorrow is a new day with bigger challenges. We'll see what we can do."
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.
Christiana Congdon, Jr., Stonington, Conn.
7.
Nicole Martinez, Fy., Asuncion, Paraguay
Stroke:
Katie King-Smith, Sr., Oxford, United Kingdom
Cox:
Esha Bhattacharya, So., San Ramon, Calif.
Varsity Four
Bow:
Anna Matthes, Jr., Belmont, Mass.
2.
Charlotte Fennell, Jr., Amersham, England
3.
Marie Ramm, Fy., Birkereod, Denmark
Stroke:
Hannah Johns, Jr., Longmeadow, Mass.
Cox:
Grace Menke, So., Sarasota, Fla.
Spares
Sophie Houston, So., Sydney, Australia
Clare Naughton, Jr., Burlington, Mass.
