Rutgers Rowing’s Varsity 8 boat to race for national title on Sunday

After the No. 7 Rutgers women’s rowing team had all three boats qualify for the A/B semifinals after the first day of the NCAA Championships, the second day of competition was highlighted by the Varsity 8 boat advancing to Sunday’s Grand Final. The Scarlet Knights finished third in the semifinal heat with a time of 6:14.057. They were was just 0.4 seconds behind second place Michigan. Along with No. 1 Texas who won the race, all three schools advanced for the chance to win the national title on Sunday in Sarasota, Florida.

The Rutgers crew in the Second Varsity 8 event finished in fifth place of its semifinal. They’ll race in the Petite Final on Sunday.

The Varsity 4 boat will also race in the Petite Final after placing fourth in the semifinals. They just missed qualifying for the Grand Final by 2.2 seconds.

You can watch a replay of all three races here.

Rutgers is performing to expectations so far as the Varsity 8 boat was seeded 6th for the NCAA Championships and is one of six to qualify for the Grand Final. The Second Varsity 8 was seeded 7th and the Varsity 4 was seeded 9th before qualifying for the Petite Final to determine 7th through 12th place.

Under head coach Justin Price, Rutgers finished in 11th place overall at the 2019 NCAA Championships after qualifying for the first time in 18 years. They are poised for a top ten team finish and have the opportunity to win a national title in the Varsity 8 race, which is the main event.

Sunday’s schedule is as follows:

Varsity 4 – Petite Final at 9:48 a.m.

Second Varsity 8 – Petite Final at 10:12 a.m.

Varsity 8 – Grand Final at 10:48 a.m.

To watch Sunday’s Finals live, click here.