FULL RESULTS

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – Yale women's crew has put itself in position to contend for a national title. On day two of the NCAA Championships, all three Yale boats finished in the top three in the A/B semifinals to qualify for Sunday's grand finals. The Bulldogs join Princeton, Texas and Stanford as the only schools with all three boats in the A/B finals.
 
"It's a goal of our program every year to get all our crews to the finals," said Will Porter, The Friends of YWC Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "It's one of the pieces of the formula for success at this regatta, but it's really, really hard to do. We were good enough to do it this year."
 
The varsity eight was the first to qualify, finishing third in a deep semifinal. The Bulldogs got off to a strong start and had a somewhat comfortable margin over fourth-place Michigan after 500 meters. Yale maintained its strong pace and posted a time of 6:17.955, holding off the Wolverines (4th, 6:19.119) and Virginia (5th, 6:19.385) to advance. Stanford (6:10.993) won the semifinal followed by Washington (6:14.455).
 
"Coming out of yesterday, we knew we had to do a little bit better in the back half of the race and hold our pace, and we did just that," Porter said. "I'm really proud of them. They've evolved as a crew through the season."
 
The previously unbeaten and defending NCAA champion second varsity eight also had to work to advance. The Bulldogs finished third with a time of 6:20.346 but were well ahead of fourth-place Michigan (6:25.934). Stanford (6:16.634) finished first, more than three seconds faster than second-place California (6:20.032).
 
"This was probably the first time they've been in a tight race this spring," Porter said. "They had a similar thing happen last year at NCAAs so we will see how they bounce back for the final. They are a very resilient group, and I'm sure they will race well in the final, and we will see where it takes them."
 
The varsity four had the easiest time moving on. The Bulldogs won their semifinal with a dominant time of 7:03.778, nearly five seconds faster than second-place Stanford (7:08.356). Brown earned the final spot in the final with a time of 7:11.552.
 
"I really liked our four race," Porter said. "They trailed for a bit, but they dug in, pushed and powered through to the front. They did some really nice work in the second half of their race."
 
The varsity four will be the first to race on Sunday, facing Virginia, Stanford, Texas, Princeton and Brown at 9:36 a.m.
 
The second varsity eight races Princeton, California, Washington, Stanford and Texas at 10 a.m.
 
The final event of the championship is the varsity eight grand final at 10:24 a.m. The Bulldogs meet Penn, Stanford, Princeton, Washington and Texas.
 
A point total based on the finishes of each school's three boats will determine the NCAA champion.
 
"The message for Sunday is to lay it all out there," Porter said. "It's the last race of the year for everybody. One team, one goal. Let's push it."

Video of the finals is available from NCAA.com.

YALE BOATINGS
 
Varsity Eight
Bow: Anna Scott (Sr., Denver, Colo.)
2: Lauren Carey (Jr., Harrogate, England & Cape Town, South Africa)        
3: Margaret Hedeman (Sr., Concord, Mass.)             
4: Mia Levy (So., Des Moines, Iowa)      
5: Nicole Martinez (So., Asuncion, Paraguay)
6: Christina Bourmpou (Thessaloniki, Greece)    
7: Lucy Edmunds (Sr., North Yorkshire, Great Britain)          
8: Veronica Wall (Sr., Ashburton, New Zealand)       
cox: Grace Menke (Jr., Sarasota, Florida)      
 
Second Varsity Eight
Bow: Sophie Houston (Jr., Sydney, Australia)  
2: Emmeline Laurence (Sr., Greenland, N.H.)        
3: Maddie Moore (So., Naples, Fla.)
4: Sophia Hahn (Jr., Braselton, Ga.)
5: Maya Meschkuleit (Jr., Mississauga, Canada) 
6: Christiana Congdon (Sr., Stonington, Conn.)
7: Mette Køchs-Nielsen (Sr., Aarhus, Denmark)    
8: Hanna Winter (Jr., Lubeck, Germany)
cox: Esha Bhattacharya (Jr., San Ramon, Calif.)   
 
Varsity Four
Bow: Hannah Johns (Sr., Longmeadow, Mass.)                     
2: Imogen Cabot (Fy., Cambridge, Mass.)     
3: Charlotte Fennell (Sr., Amersham, England)
4: Violet Barletta (So., Boston, Mass.)
cox: Hope Galusha (Fy., Manhattan Beach, Calif.)
 
Alternates
Lily Eales (So., Sydney, Australia)    
Marie Ramm (So., Birkereod, Denmark)