PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The University of Pennsylvania women's rowing team has completed the first day of competition at the NCAA Championships, and all three of the Quakers' boats are in a position to meet or better their seed heading into Saturday's semifinals.
 
The Varsity Eight was victorious in its heat on Friday morning and advanced to the A/B semifinals, while the Second Varsity Eight also earned a spot in its A/B semis. That means those crews remain in the hunt for a national championship and will race Saturday for a spot in Sunday's Grand Finals. The Varsity Four, meanwhile, nearly stunned the field in its five-boat heat on Friday morning, just missing out on a top-three spot. Instead, they will row in the C/D semis on Saturday with the goal of advancing to the Third Final where they could still better their 15 seed.

"The progression for this year's regatta is significantly different with no repechage races," said head coach Wesley Ng, the recently named Ivy League Coach of the Year. "This meant that trusting our preparation and having an excellent piece in the heat was critical. I am really pleased with how our crews approached it this morning. The Varsity Eight handled the expected challenge well, while the Second Varsity Eight battled hard. I'm particularly proud of our Four, which gave a total effort to try and jump a place; their preparation and approach has been fun to witness.

"It was a good day, but there isn't any time to get excited or disappointed with the semifinals coming up so quickly tomorrow morning."
 
Varsity Eight
Great start to the weekend for this group. The Quakers—seeded fourth overall—were the highest seed in their heat and showed why with an impressive performance, winning the race with a time of 6:28.454 across the Cooper River's 2,000-meter course. Penn and fifth-seeded Yale got out to fast starts and quickly gained open water on the rest of the field in the six-boat race. The Quakers eventually pulled away from the Bulldogs and had open water on their Ivy rivals by the time they hit the 1,500-meter mark. That held the rest of the way, Penn's time bettering Yale (6:33.358) by nearly five seconds.
 
SMU was third across the line, in 6:38.610, to earn the final A/B semifinal spot. Indiana (6:47.844), George Washington (6:58.684) and Navy (7:01.034) rounded out the field and will move to Saturday's C/D semifinals.
 
Second Varsity Eight
The new setup, eliminating Friday afternoon repechages, took some pressure off this boat which was bitten by Virginia a year ago and forced to make an extra row. Despite the new setup—the top three boats in each heat advancing directly to A/B semis—the sixth-seeded Quakers left nothing to chance in their matchup with the Cavaliers this time around as seeds held in the heat. Penn was neck-and-neck with third-seeded Texas through 500, before the Longhorns opened things up in the second 500 and held that advantage the rest of the way with a winning time of 6:40.964.
 
Penn and 11th-seeded Virginia quickly established that they would be the other boats advancing, but the Quakers used a strong finish in the final 500 to clock 6:44.428 and best the Cavaliers (6:45.574) by a little more than a second. Syracuse (7:03.182), George Washington (7:21.244) and Jacksonville (7:31.150) rounded out the race and will compete in the C/D semis on Saturday morning.
 
Varsity Four
The 15th seed overall in this division, Penn was the fourth seed in its five-boat race but gave 10th-seeded SMU all it could handle in the race for the final A/B semifinal spot. The Quakers and Mustangs were neck-and-neck all the way down the 2,000-meter course, SMU holding the slightest of leads all the way and ultimately beating Penn by a little more than three seconds. SMU's time was 7:42.189 while Penn's was 7:45.575.
 
Second-seeded Yale (7:23.491) and seventh-seeded Washington (7:27.245) left little doubt that they would advance, nearly 15 seconds separating the top two boats from third-place SMU. Gonzaga (8:23.109) was a distant fifth in the race.
 
SATURDAY SCHEDULE (UPDATED)  |  Watch Live  |  Live Results  |  Penn Boatings (PDF)
  8:36 a.m. - Varsity Eights semifinal (A/B 1)
   (by lanes 1-6) #12 SMU | #1 Princeton | #4 Penn | #2 Texas | #11 Cal | #7 Syracuse
  9:24 a.m. - Second Varsity Eights semifinal (A/B 1)
    (by lanes 1-6) #13 Michigan | #6 Penn | #1 Yale | #5 Stanford | #7 Cal | #8 Ohio State
  9:48 a.m. - Varsity Fours semifinal (C/D 3)
    (by lanes 1-5) #21 Jacksonville | #17 Indiana | #13 Syracuse | #15 Penn | #19 Navy