NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's crew team's strong season will continue, as the Bulldogs received one of 12 at-large bids to the NCAA Championship, set for May 29-31 at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Georgia, hosted by Lake Lanier Olympic Park and the University of North Georgia.
 
The NCAA Division I Women's Rowing Championship is comprised of 22 teams and provides three events (I Eights, II Eights and Fours), each covering a 2,000-meter course. Each team is required to field two boats of eight rowers each and one boat of four rowers. For the I Eights, II Eights and Fours, all 22 boats will be seeded into four heats.
 
Yale, currently ranked No. 7 nationally, is coming off a strong showing at the Ivy League Championship, where the varsity four claimed gold, and the varsity eight and second varsity eight finished second.  The Bulldogs were second to Princeton (44 points) for the NCAA automatic qualifier with 43 points.
 
Joining Yale in the 22-team field are Rhode Island, Stanford, UCF, Washington, Northeastern, Princeton, Jacksonville, UMass, Boston University, Oregon State, Brown, California, Columbia, Miami (Florida), Michigan, Ohio State, Rutgers, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
 
All three Yale crews are seeded in the top seven, the varsity eight is fifth, the second varsity eight is sixth, and the varsity four is seventh.
 
Last season at NCAAs, the Bulldogs' varsity eight claimed the national title with a victory in its grand final for the first time since 2010. The varsity four and second varsity eight also delivered performances to remember, finishing fourth and fifth in the nation, respectively. Yale finished as one of the top-10 women's crews in the country with a runner-up finish. The Bulldogs' three boats accumulated 121 points in the field, marking the first time since 2004 that the program finished second at the championship.