Women's Rowing

Three ACC Rowing Teams Set for 2024 NCAA Championship

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Three Atlantic Coast Conference rowing teams are heading to the Buckeye State for the 2024 NCAA Division I Rowing Championship, as Duke, Syracuse and Virginia will compete for a national title Friday, May 31, through Sunday, June 2, at East Fork/Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio.

It marks the fourth consecutive season three ACC teams will compete at the NCAA Rowing Championship.

Duke, which earned an at-large bid, makes its fifth consecutive and sixth overall appearance in the NCAA Championship. Headlined by a victory in the Varsity Four, the Blue Devils finished third at the ACC Championship and enter the NCAA Championship ranked No. 16 in the latest Pocock CRCA Coaches Poll. Earlier this month, Head Coach Megan Cooke Carcagno announced she will depart the program at the conclusion of this season to dedicate more time to her family.

Claiming its first-ever ACC title and the conference’s automatic bid on May 18, Syracuse will row at the NCAA Championship for the fourth straight season and 12th overall. Tying with Virginia in the final team standings at the ACC Championship, the Orange Varsity Eight clinched the tiebreak and sealed the team title with their second straight league title. For the V8’s efforts, the team was named ACC Crew of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Virginia, which claimed the league’s second at-large bid, will compete at the NCAA Championship for the 26th time in program history and seeks its third national title. The Cavaliers won a pair of events at the ACC Championship, including the Third Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Four. After 29 seasons with Virginia, two-time CRCA National Coach of the Year Kevin Sauer will retire at the end of the season.

The action gets underway on Friday at 9:48 a.m. with the opening heats of the First Varsity Eight. Semifinal action will begin on Saturday beginning at 8:12 a.m. beginning with the V8s. Championship Sunday will also begin at 8:12 a.m. beginning with the C & D final for the First Varsity Four. All the action from Bethel will be streamed on NCAA.com.

The NCAA Rowing champion is determined by total points with points assigned based on the finish in each race. The first-place finisher in the First Varsity Eight will receive 66 points with each subsequent finisher collecting three fewer points – 63 for second, 60 for third, etc. The Second Varsity Eight winner will earn 44 points with each successive finisher collecting two fewer points (42 points for second, 40 points for third, etc.) and the Fours winner will receive 22 points, with the runner-up earning 21 points, third receiving 20 points, etc. Ties will be broken based on the teams' result in the First Eight.

ACC Notes
  • A season-best four ACC teams are in the latest Pocock Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Coaches Poll, released on May 22. Syracuse remained at No. 12, while Virginia climbed two spots to No. 14 and Duke is No. 16. Notre Dame jumped into the top 20 for the first time this season, entering the poll at No. 18. Miami and Clemson were receiving votes.
     
  • Capped off by a record-setting victory in the Varsity Eight Grand Final, Syracuse won the 2024 ACC Rowing Championship for the first time in program history. The Orange and Virginia tied in the final standings with 90 points apiece, but Syracuse’s win in the Varsity Eight clinched the tiebreaker.
     
  • With the championship-clinching win, the Syracuse V8 was named the ACC Crew of the Year for the second straight season. Also, for the second straight season, Syracuse’s Luke McGee was named ACC Coach the Year, while Notre Dame’s Isalina Colsman was tabbed ACC Newcomer of the Year.
     
  • Virginia rowing head coach Kevin Sauer announced his retirement on May 9, effective at the end of the current season. Sauer has directed the UVA program for the past 29 years, guiding the Cavaliers to a pair of NCAA championships, 22 ACC championships and nine NCAA boat titles.
     
  • Following nine years as Duke's rowing head coach, Megan Cooke Carcagno will depart the program at the conclusion of this season to dedicate more time to her family.
     
  • A pair of former ACC standouts led Cambridge to a championship at the legendary Boat Race in London. Syracuse’s Hannah Murphy and Duke’s Megan Lee led Cambridge in a win over Oxford by seven boat lengths.
     
  • Molly Bruggeman, a 2014 University of Notre Dame graduate, was one of 21 athletes named to the United States Rowing Team to represent Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Bruggeman was among 13 women who will make up the women’s eight and four in Paris, with exact seat selections to come at a later date.
     
  • Four ACC standouts were named to the 2024 Inaugural CRCA Athletes to Watch List. The list included: Kamile Kralikaite (Syracuse), Emmie Frederico (Syracuse), Natalie Hoefer (Notre Dame) and Kate Kelly (Virginia).
     
  • On Feb. 15, the ACC announced its first-ever Rowing Watch List consisting of one student-athlete from each program, nominated by their respective schools. The list included: Lauren Meath (Boston College), Caroline Emerson (Clemson), Katie Nash (Duke), Claire Carver-Ritter (Louisville), Constance Stirling (Miami), Natalie Timinskas (North Carolina), Natalie Hoefer (Notre Dame), Kamile Kralikaite (Syracuse) and Lauren Benedict (Virginia).