No. 15 Rowing Set for 2023 NCAA Championships

Friday, May 26

Pennsauken, N.J. / Cooper River

9:00 AM

Rutgers University

NCAA Championships - Day 1

May 25 | Women's Rowing

Event Schedule Heat & Lane Assignments Watch Live Live Results

Scarlet Knights make their fourth consecutive appearance at the national regatta after finishing seventh in 2021 and 13th in 2022

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – No. 15 Rutgers rowing travels south on the New Jersey Turnpike for the 2023 NCAA Championships beginning on Friday, May 26 through Sunday, May 28 at Cooper River Park.

The Scarlet Knights are competing in their fourth consecutive NCAA Championships after breaking an 18-year drought in 2019 with an 11th-place finish, followed by a seventh-place team result in 2021 and a 13th-place finish in 2022. Rutgers' Varsity 8 placed 13th in the nation last spring with their result in the NCAA petite final, while the Varsity 4 and 2nd Varsity 8 took 10th and 13th, respectively.

Competition on Friday begins for the Scarlet Knights at 9 a.m. in the first heat of the Varsity 8. The 2nd Varsity 8 will be in the second heat at 10 a.m. At 10:36 a.m., Rutgers will compete in the first heat of the Varsity 4. All times are approximate and subject to change.

The top three boats from each heat move on to Saturday's A/B semifinals. The rest move on to the C/D semifinals on Saturday.

This year's field features Brown, California, Duke, George Washington, Gonzaga, Indiana, Jacksonville, Michigan, Navy, Northeastern, Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Rutgers, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Texas, USC, Virginia, Washington, Yale.

FRIDAY HEAT SCHEDULE
Schedule
Friday, May 26 – Heats
9 a.m. ET – Varsity 8, Heat 1
Lane 1: Rutgers
Lane 2: Virginia
Lane 3: Princeton
Lane 4: Washington
Lane 5: USC

10 a.m. ET – 2nd Varsity 8, Heat 2
Lane 1: Northeastern
Lane 2: SMU
Lane 3: Princeton
Lane 4: California
Lane 5: Rutgers

10:36 a.m. ET – Varsity 4, Heat 1
Lane 1: Indiana
Lane 2: Duke
Lane 3: Texas
Lane 4: California
Lane 5: Rutgers

SCORING
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 8 will receive 66 points with each subsequent finisher collecting three fewer points – 63 for second, 60 for third, etc. The Second Varsity 8 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 Varsity 8.

FORMAT
The top three times of each heat will automatically advance to the A/B Semifinals on Saturday with the remaining boats moving on to the C/D Semifinals on Saturday.

The results of Saturday's A/B Semifinals will determine the field competing in the Grand and Petite Finals. The top three of each A/B Semifinal will advance to the Grand Final (places 1-6) and the other six boats will move to the Petite Final (places 7-12) on Sunday.

The 10 boats that comprise the C/D Semifinals on Saturday will vie for spots in the C and D Finals on Sunday. The top six boats will advance to compete in the C Final (places 13-18), while the remaining four boats will race in the D Final (places 19-22).

HOW THEY GOT HERE
The Scarlet Knights earned one of 11 at-large bids to the NCAA Championships, making an appearance at the national regatta for the fourth consecutive season.

Rutgers finished fourth at the 2023 Big Ten Championships under the direction of sixth-year head coach Justin Price, winning four medals at the conference regatta and claiming Big Ten gold for a second-straight year after the 3rd Varsity 4 won its race. The Varsity 8 placed fourth, while the 2nd Varsity 8 and Varsity 4 raced to bronze medals, matching their best results at the Big Ten Championships. Two Varsity 8 boat members were named All-Big Ten with Hannah Heideveld taking First Team honors for a second consecutive season and Emma Waters earning a Second Team distinction.

The 2023 Rutgers team returns nine rowers from the NCAA boats, including Second Team All-America selection Heideveld, who also represented United States Rowing by winning a goal medal with the women's eight at the World Under 23 Championships last summer. RU also returns junior coxswain Emily Mahaffy, a 2021 Second-Team All-American as a freshman. RU also finished seventh at the 2021 NCAA Championships and 11th in 2019.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
Last spring, Rutgers finished 13th in the nation by compiling 64 team points at the national regatta behind a ninth-place finish from the Varsity 4 boat and 13th-place results from the Varsity 8 and 2nd Varsity 8. All three of Rutgers' NCAA boats outperformed their seeding heading into the national regatta last season, which had the Varsity 8 at 16th, and the 2nd Varsity 8 and Varsity 4 at 15th.

13th overall in 2022
- V8 – 13th
- 2V8 – 13th
- V4 – 9th
7th overall in 2021
- V8 – 5th
- 2V8 – 10th
- V4 – 7th
11th overall in 2019
- V8 – 10th
- 2V8 – 14th
- V4 – 10th

Women's Division I Rankings - May 17
1. Princeton
2. Texas
3. Yale
4. Stanford
5. Washington
6. Pennsylvania
7. Brown
8. Virginia
9. California
10. Syracuse
11. Michigan
12. Ohio State
13. SMU
14. Duke
15. Rutgers
16. Indiana
17. Harvard
18. USC
19. Oregon State
20. Tennessee

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding rowing, follow the program on Twitter (@RutgersWRowing) and Instagram (@RutgersWRowing).