Nine Pac-12 rowing teams selected for national championships

SAN FRANCISCO — Five Pac-12 women’s rowing teams were selected for the 2018 NCAA Championships and four Pac-12 men’s rowing teams were selected to compete for the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships.

The 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Rowing Championship will be hosted by the University of Central Florida. Racing will take place Friday through Sunday, May 25-27, at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla.

The women’s NCAA field is composed of 22 overall teams, including 11 conferences that were awarded automatic qualifiers and the remaining 11 slots were filled with at-large selections. NCAA defending champion WASHINGTON received the conference’s automatic bid and is joined by CALIFORNIA, STANFORD, USC and WASHINGTON STATE receiving at-large selections. Teams are required to field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers. The Pac-12 earned the top three seeds in the varsity eight, with UW earning the No. 1 seed followed by No. 2 Stanford and No. 3 California.

Last year Washington won its first national championship since 2001, edging out previous defending champion California, 132-123, for the program’s fourth national title. The Huskies enter the championship ranked No. 1 in the latest CRCA/USRowing Coaches poll. California and Stanford follow at Nos. 2 and 5, respectively, with USC at No. 13 and Washington State at No. 17.

The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship will be held June 1-3 in West Windsor, N.J. for the fourth time in history. A total of 24 institutions will be represented at this year's regatta at Richard J. Coffee Mercer County Park on Mercer Lake, hosted by the Princeton National Rowing Association. The IRA field is comprised of 17 automatic qualifiers and seven at-large berths. 2018 Pac-12 champion Washington earned the automatic bid and will compete alongside Pac-12 members California, OREGON STATE and Stanford.

A Pac-12 program has won 10 of the last 12 championships with California earning its latest crown in 2016 and Washington claiming the title for five consecutive years from 2011-2015.  

Pac-12 NCAA Women's Rowing Champions - 8
Washington – 4 (1997-98, 2001, 2017)
California – 3 (2005-06, 2016)
Stanford  – 1 (2009)

Pac-12 IRA Men's Rowing Champions - 35
Washington – 18 (1923-24, 1926, 1936-37, 1940-41, 1948, 1950, 1970, 1997, 2007, 2009, 2011-15)
California – 17 (1928, 1932, 1934-35, 1939, 1949, 1960-61, 1964, 1976, 1999-02, 2006, 2010, 2016)