Huskies Head To Sarasota For NCAA Title Defense

The No. 2-ranked Washington women's rowing team heads to Sarasota, Fla., this weekend for the 2021 NCAA Rowing Championships.
 
The 24th NCAA regatta will be held at the Nathan Benderson Park, which was also the site of the 2018 NCAAs. In addition, Benderson Park hosted the 2017 World Rowing Championships and the 2019 World Rowing Under-23 Championships. Racing is this Friday through Sunday, May 28-30.
 
Last season's NCAA Championships were canceled, meaning that the Huskies are still defending NCAA Champions by virtue of their sweep of the 2019 NCAA Regatta in Indianapolis. That year, for the second time in three seasons (the only two times in the history of the event), Washington won all three grand finals to earn the title, setting NCAA Championships records in all three boats while winning the varsity eight in perhaps the most dramatic finish in the history of the event.
 
Of the 23 women who won NCAA titles in one of the three crews in 2019, 13 remain on the 2021 Washington roster, though not all of those individuals will necessarily compete this weekend. 
 
The Huskies, under fifth-year head coach Yasmin Farooq, earned the No. 1 seed in second varsity eight, the No. 2 seed in the second eight and the fifth seed in the varsity four event. As a team, the Washington women had held the No. 1 spot in every coaches poll of the spring until the final poll, May 19, when the Huskies dropped to No. 2 behind Texas.
 
Heats, which are held on the first day (Fri., May 28), are arranged based on those seedings. Here is the schedule, which is subject to change:
 
Friday, May 28 – Heats (only UW heats listed)
9:12 a.m. ET/6:12 a.m. PT – Varsity Eight, heat two
(Washington, Ohio State, SMU, Wisconsin, Gonzaga)
 
9:48 a.m. ET/6:48 a.m. PT – Second Varsity Eight, heat one
(Washington, Brown, SMU, Princeton, Alabama)
 
11:12 a.m. ET/8:12 a.m. PT – Varsity Four, heat four
(Virginia, Washington, Washington State, Alabama, Navy, Northeastern)
 
Saturday, May 29 – Semifinals
8:36 and 8:48 a.m. ET/5:36 and 5:48 a.m. PT – Varsity Eight, A/B semifinals
9:24 and 9:36 a.m. ET/6:24 and 6:36 a.m. PT – Second Varsity Eight, A/B semifinals
10:12 and 10:24 a.m. ET/7:12 and 7:24 a.m. PT – Varsity Four, A/B semifinals
 
Sunday, May 30 – Finals
10:00 a.m. ET/7:00 a.m. PT – Varsity Four, grand final
10:24 a.m. ET/7:24 a.m. PT – Second Varsity Eight, grand final
10:48 a.m. ET/7:48 a.m. PT – Varsity Eight, grand final
 
Washington will compete at NCAAs for the 24th time in the 24-year history of the event (again, there was no NCAA regatta in 2020). Only the UW and Brown have earned invitations to all 24 championships. The Huskies were the Pac-12's automatic berth winner by virtue of winning their fourth straight conference title on May 16.
 
Scoring
The NCAA Rowing champion is determined by total points. The first-place finisher in the Varsity 4+ grand final will earn 22 points, with each finisher after that receiving one fewer (21 for second, 20 for third, all the way to one point for 22nd place). The 2V8+ winner gets 44 points, with each subsequent finisher earning two fewer (42 for second; 40 for third, etc.), and the varsity eight winner gets 66 points, with the second-place team getting 63, etc. Any ties in the point totals are broken by the two (or three) teams' finish in the varsity eight.
 
Race Coverage
For the latest information on the Huskies at the NCAA Championships, make sure to follow @UW_Rowing on Twitter. You'll find the latest links to live coverage and more there. The NCAA will live stream the races in Sarasota, via its NCAA Championships Live website. Any links to live video and/or to live results will be posted on the @UW_Rowing Twitter feed, as well as on the women's rowing schedule page here on GoHuskies.com.
 
UW's All-Time NCAA Team Finishes
2019: 1st
2018: 2nd
2017: 1st
2016: 5th
2015: 4th
2014: 7th
2013: 6th
2012: 7th
2011: 8th
2010: 10th
2009: 7th
2008: 2nd
2007: 10th
2006: 7th
2005: 9th
2004: 5th
2003: 3rd
2002: 2nd
2001: 1st
2000: 2nd
1999: 3rd
1998: 1st
1997: 1st
 
UW's All-Time NCAA Boat Champions
Fours (stroke to bow, coxswain)
1999 (Erin Becht, Anna Mickelson, Kara Nykrein, Kellie Schenk, Mary Whipple)
2000 (Lauren Estevenin, Carrie Stasiak, Heidi Hurn, Adrienne Hunter, Anne Heisburg)
2001 (Margherita Pallottino, Yvonne Stenken, Kattie Baurichter, Teegan Simonson, Maili Barber)
2008 (Rachel Powers, Jennifer Park, Charlene Franklin, Adrienne Martelli, Maggie Cheek)
2017 (Valentina Iseppi, Valerie Vogt, Julia Paulsen, Sophia Baker, Marley Avritt)
2019 (Dimitra Tsamopoulou, Kieanna Stephens, Holly Drapp, Emma Vagen, Dana Brooks)*
* - NCAA-record time for fours: 6:52.451
 
Second Eights (coxswain, stroke to bow)
2002 (Anne Hessburg, Jenni Vesnaver, Jessica Harm, Shannon Oates, Erin Becht, Sanda Hangan, Margherita Pallottino, Erin Curry, Mandy Nelson)
2017 (Isabella Corriere, Marlee Blue, Maggie Phillips, Carmela Pappalardo, Phoebe Spoors, Karlé Pittsinger, Bella Chilczuk, Anna Thornton, Calina Schanze)
2018 (Marley Avritt, Brooke Pierson, Katy Gillingham, Carmela Pappalardo, Karlé Pittsinger, Julia Paulsen, Jennifer Wren, Jessica Thoennes, Calina Schanze)
2019 (Amanda Durkin, Klara Grube, Lark Skov, Elise Bueke, Holly Dunford, Molly Gallaher, Mackenna Cameron, Skylar Jacobson, Adele Likin)*
* - NCAA-record time for second eights: 6:11.262
 
First Eights (coxswain, stroke to bow)
1997 (Alida Purves, Sabina Telenska, Denni Nessler, Kelly Horton, Katy Dunnet, Annie Christie, Jan Williamson, Tristine Glick, Kari Green)
1998 (Missy Collins, Sabina Telenska, Denni Nessler, Kelly Horton, Katy Dunnet, Annie Christie, Rachel Dunnet, Vanessa Tavalero, Kari Green)
2001 (Mary Whipple, Lauren Estevenin, Nicole Borges, Anna Mickelson, Rika Geyser, Adrienne Hunter, Carrie Stasiak, Nicole Rogers, Annabel Ritchie)
2002 (Mary Whipple, Lauren Estevenin, Annabel Ritchie, Anna Mickelson, Heidi Hurn, Adrienne Hunter, Carrie Stasiak, Kara Nykreim, Yvonneke Stenken)
2017 (Phoebe Marks-Nicholes, Chiara Ondoli, Elise Beuke, Brooke Pierson, Katy Gillingham, Brooke Mooney, Tabea Schendekehl, Jessica Thoennes, Annemieke Schanze)
2019 (Marley Avritt, Tabea Schendekehl, Calina Schanze, Sofia Asoumanaki, Marlee Blue, Teal Cohen, Valentina Iseppi, Jennifer Wren, Carmela Pappalardo)*
* - NCAA-record time for first eights: 6:07.284
 
All-Time NCAA Rowing Team Championships
Brown – 7
Washington – 5
California – 4
Ohio State – 3
Virginia – 2
Stanford – 1
Harvard – 1
 
All-Time NCAA Rowing Boat (V8+, 2V8+, V4+) Championships
Washington – 16
Brown – 14
Virginia – 9
California – 7
Ohio State – 6
Yale – 4
Princeton – 3
Michigan – 2
Stanford – 2
Clemson – 1
Harvard – 1
Minnesota – 1
USC – 1
 
UW's Pre-NCAA (NCRC) Women's National Championships
Varsity Eight*
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1987
1988
* V8+ winner was considered national champion prior to NCAA regatta
 
Junior Varsity Eight
1981
1982
1983
1987
1989
1994
 
Varsity Four
1987