WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – On a day when the weather was uncooperative and delayed its racing by nine hours, the University of Pennsylvania women's rowing team displayed mature racing across all three boats on Saturday evening at the NCAA Championships. As a result, the Quakers will row in their respective Third Finals on Sunday with the opportunity for all three to better their pre-Championships seedings.
 
The three-day national championship event is taking place on Mercer Lake. All three of Penn's boats entered the weekend seeded 15th in their respective 22-boat field, but all three could finish as high as 13th tomorrow. In Saturday's semifinal racing, the Varsity Eight won its C/D semifinal while the Second Varsity Eight and the Varsity Four both were second-place finishers.
 
"We raced exceptionally well today in the semifinals," said Penn's first-year head coach, Bill Manning. "The semis are always tight but each of our three crews raced with great enthusiasm and trust in one another, winning or placing second in races where the top three advanced. We stayed ahead of boats we had defeated previously, and we defeated some other crews who beat us earlier in the year. Our improvement has been crucial to our success. Tomorrow is a new day and the team plans to race their Sunday best."

Varsity Eight
Penn was in third place at the midpoint of Saturday's race, with Northeastern nipping on the Quakers' heels. The Quakers took charge from there, however, rowing through Dartmouth and then Syracuse on the way to winning the race and putting them in one of the preferred lanes for Sunday's Third Final.
  (15) Penn 6:17.229
  (17) Syracuse 6:18.073
  (11) Dartmouth 6:21.065
  (20) Northeastern 6:23.125
  (22) Fairfield 6:45.753

Second Varsity Eight
The top three boats—UCF, Penn and Indiana—quickly established themselves in this race, and the Quakers did a good job of holding their lead over the Hoosiers the entire way down the course. Penn's lead over IU was a little less than two seconds at the 500 and 1000 marks, and exactly a second at 1500, but the Red and Blue held its nerve and took second place by 1.4 seconds. The Knights won the race by a bit more than two seconds over Penn.
  (11) UCF 6:30.536
  (15) Penn 6:32.818
  (17) Indiana 6:34.212
  (20) BU 6:40.716
  (22) Fairfield 7:12.150

Varsity Four
After a false start, the teams got out safely the second time and Virginia took control early. Dartmouth was second through the midway point of the race, but Penn pushed past the Big Green in the third 500 and kept that lead the rest of the way. Boston University also figured into the mix in the final 500 and actually nipped Dartmouth by almost four-tenths of a second at the finish line, earning the final slot in tomorrow's Third Final and dropping the Big Green into the Fourth Final.
  (17) Virginia 7:10.567
  (15) Penn 7:13.633
  (19) BU 7:14.917
  (13) Dartmouth 7:15.293
  (21) URI 7:59.271

SUNDAY SCHEDULE | Watch Live on NCAA.com | Live Results | Penn Boatings (PDF)
7:20 a.m. – V4A Third Final
  (by lanes 1-6) #16 Indiana | #15 Penn | #14 UCF | #17 Virginia | #18 Oregon State | #19 BU
7:36 a.m. – 2V8 Third Final
  (by lanes 1-6) #17 Indiana | #13 Dartmouth | #11 UCF | #9 Rutgers | #15 Penn | #19 Northeastern
7:52 a.m. – 1V8 Third Final
  (by lanes 1-6) #16 Harvard #17 Syracuse | #13 UCF | #15 Penn | #18 Oregon State | #11 Dartmouth
 
For the latest on Penn women's rowing, follow @PennWomensRowing on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.