GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com)—Virginia finished in fifth place and Syracuse had a 16th-place effort at the 2018 NCAA Rowing Championships which were held Friday and Saturday at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida.

The NCAA Championships were scheduled to conclude Sunday morning, but were completed Saturday afternoon due to expected inclement weather from subtropical storm Alberto. 

Virginia rebounded from a disappointing performance in Saturday’s semifinals to record its sixth top five finish in the last seven years. The effort also was Virginia’s 16th top five finish in the 22 years of the NCAA Rowing Championships. UVA has finished sixth or better 19 times.

The Cavaliers tied with Stanford for fourth place in total points, but the Cardinal won the tiebreaker, which was the finish in the First Varsity Eight. In that race, Stanford was fourth and Virginia was seventh.
 
UVA finished strong after the semifinals, winning both the petite finals of the First Varsity Eight and the First Varsity Four, while its Second Varsity Eight boat (6:28.264) recorded a third-place finish behind only Washington (6:21.81) and California (6:27.201).

Syracuse’s Second Varsity Eight boat also had its best performance for the Orange Saturday afternoon, placing fifth (6:41.1) in the petite finals for an 11th-place overall finish. 

In the First Varsity Eight, Syracuse placed fourth in the C Final to finish 16th overall and the Orange also earned a 16th-place overall finish in the First Varsity Four which placed fourth in the C Final.

California won the national championship with 130 points followed by Washington (128) and Texas (115). Stanford and Virginia each had 104 points, followed by Ohio State (101), Michigan (95), Yale (93), Princeton (92) and Brown (70). 

Iowa (69) led the second 10, followed by USC (67), Indiana (60), Washington State (57), Wisconsin (52) and Syracuse (52). 

Syracuse tied Wisconsin for 15th, but lost the tiebreaker to the Badgers to finish 16th.

“It’s truly amazing to finish up tied for fourth in the points standings from where we’ve been this year and last year,” Virginia head coach Kevin Sauer said. “I credit this team and its resiliency. We really came through in the finals. We thought we might have a shot at placing fourth or fifth if we won both petites and medaling in the 2V8, and that’s exactly what we did.”

Saturday marked the final event of head coach Justin Moore’s tenure at the helm of the women’s rowing program. During Moore’s tenure, he elevated the Syracuse’s women’s rowing program to a national contender, which included back-to-back ACC finishes the past two years and three consecutive NCAA Championship At-Large bids

Team Totals
1. California, 130
2. Washington, 128
3. Texas, 115
4. Stanford, 104
5. Virginia, 104
6. Ohio State, 101
7. Michigan, 95
8. Yale, 93
9. Princeton, 92
10. Brown, 70
11. Iowa, 69
12. USC, 67
13. Indiana, 60
14. Washington State, 57
15. Wisconsin, 52
16. Syracuse, 52
17. Navy, 31
18. Gonzaga, 30
19. Northeastern, 26
20. UCF, 22
21. Rhode Island, 14
22. Jacksonville, 6

The ACC in the NCAA Rowing Finals

First Varsity Eight Petite Final
1. Virginia, 6:28.633; 2. USC, 6:29.138; 3. Yale, 6:30.866; 4. Michigan, 6:30.981; 5. Iowa, 6:35.501; 6. Indiana, 6:44.318.

First Varsity Eight C-Final
1. Brown, 6:29.626; 2. Washington State, 6:32.274; 3. Wisconsin, 6:34.924; 4. Syracuse, 6:36.499; 5. Gonzaga, 6:42.421; 6. UCF, 6:46.069.
 
Second Varsity Eight Grand Final
1. Washington, 6:21.081; 2. Cal, 6:27.201. 3. Virginia, 6:28.264. 4. Michigan, 6:28.576; 5. Texas, 6:30.519; 6. Yale, 6:37.854.

Second Varsity Eight Petite Final
1. Stanford, 6:34.105; 2. Ohio State, 6:36.597; 3. Princeton, 6:37.832; 4. Brown, 6:37.855; 5. Syracuse, 6:41.132; 6. Iowa, 6:41.922.

First Varsity Four Petite Final
1. Virginia, 7:14.594; 2. Stanford, 7:19.281; 3. Brown, 7:20.449; 4. Indiana, 7:21.549; 5. Washington State, 7:25.947; 6. Iowa, 7:33.197.

First Varsity Four C Final
1. Princeton, 7:26.613; 2. Navy, 7:29.580; 3. Wisconsin, 7:30.093; 4. Syracuse, 7:33.978; 5. USC, 7:37.410; 6. Northeastern, 7:54.120.

Virginia Lineups
First Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Izzi Weiss; Stroke: Heidi Long; 7: Emily Ashton; 6: Jane Hudson; 5: Georgia Gray; 4. Sophie Pennoyer; 3: Ellie Stewart; 2: Ali Zwicker; Bow: Alice Darry.
 
Second Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Adi Hendlin; Stroke: Isabella Strickler; 7: Reilly White; 6: Christina Berchtold; 5: Anna Fairs; 4: Alex Slabbert; 3: Martine van den Boomgaard; 2: Morgan Rosts; Bow: Carrie Warner.
 
First Varsity Four
Coxswain: Maria Zeris; 4: Star Davidson; 3: Hannah Watson; 2: Toni Wiersma; Bow: Mary Beth Greer. 

Syracuse Lineups
First Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Rebecca Spraggins, Ashley Johnson, Lauren Richards, Meg Varcoe, Lucy Pearce, Haley Jones, Rachael Caldwell, Madeleine Holzman-K, Arianna Lee.

Second Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Sydney Rodriguez, Alexis Dorner, Maddy Horridge, Zoe Preston, Sarah Konishesky, Emily Andolfatto, Josie Kiesel, Christina Tobias, Christine Habjan.

First Varsity Four
Coxswain: Kayla Rubenstein, Olivia Humphrey, Madison Falzon, Kate Aemissiger, Sarah Crummey.