NCAA rowing championships: 4 Pac-12 teams advance multiple boats to semis

Not to be outdone by their male counterparts, the Washington women put on a show of their own on Friday at the NCAA rowing championships.

The Huskies sent three boats to the event, and all three – women's varsity eight, women's second varsity and varsity four – all advanced to Saturday's semifinals. Only the varsity four boat failed to win its heat, coming in second behind Princeton.

With a time of 6:26.026, the varsity eight edged out Texas, who came in at 6:26.043. The second varsity crew had a little more breathing room, knocking off conference rival Stanford by 2.5 seconds.

Head coach Bob Ernst knows that while Friday's results were good, things can change quickly.

“You take this regatta one day at a time,” Ernst told GoHuskies.com. “Tomorrow our goal will be to advance each of our boats to the finals. One day at a time, one goal at a time. We’re keeping it simple.”

Washignton get back into the water tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. PT.

Another strong performance from the Cal Bears, who saw their women's varsity eight grab a first-place finish with a time of 6:23.735, nearly a full five seconds ahead of second-place Princeton. The second varsity eight also won its heat, defeating Yale by over two seconds with a time of 6:34.635.

The varsity four boat came in second, but advanced, behind first-place Brown. Its time of 7:28.334 put them a little over six seconds ahead of Texas.

"The team did a great job today. To have all three boats qualify to go directly to the semifinals is huge," head coach Al Acosta told CalBears.com. "The semis will of course be much harder than today, but we're confident that all three boats are well prepared to take the next step."

The Stanford varsity eight crew put in a strong performance on Friday, advancing to the semis behind its second-place finish and a time of 6:29.417. Not to be outdone, the second varsity eight boat also finished second (6:38.546) and will row Saturday in the semifinals after a second-place finish behind rival Washignton.

Oh, and for good measure, the varsity four took care of business to advance as well in the repechage round with a time of 7:25.579.

All three teams advanced to the semis for Washignton State, led by the second varsity eight boat, who took home the top time in its heat at 6:36.478. The varsity our, with a time of 7:23.521, made it in comfortably over Stanford.

The varsity eight joined the other two boats in advancing after a blistering 2,000 meters at 6:27.798 in the repechage round.

It was a tough day for USC as all of its boats failed to qualify for the sem's. Their fourth-place finish in the second varsity eight was the high mark with a time of 6:47.575, while a third-place finish in the repechage round sealed its day. The varsity four boat also finished third in the repechage round after a fifth-place finish in its heat.