Like clockwork, Stanford women’s rowing is headed back to the NCAA Championships with another conference sweep under their belt and back-to-back national championships in sight.
The Cardinal won its fifth-consecutive conference championship last weekend at Lake Wheeler in Raleigh, N.C., sweeping all five grand finals at the ACC Championships to earn the conference’s automatic NCAA bid. It was Stanford’s second-straight ACC title after the move from the Pac-12 and its third-consecutive season sweeping every conference boat title.
Stanford entered last weekend ranked No. 3 nationally and dominated during the preliminary heats, winning all five of them. The Cardinal’s first varsity four highlighted the opening day by finishing in 6:52.47, breaking the ACC Championship record Stanford had set last season. Stanford advanced each boat to Saturday’s grand finals, where they displayed another dominant performance.
The third varsity eight opened the finals with a nearly nine second win over UC Berkeley, giving Stanford early momentum in a competition that included several ranked programs. The second varsity four cruised to a 10.76 second victory over Syracuse, and the varsity four beat the Virginia Cavaliers by 12.1 seconds. Stanford’s second varsity eight added a 5.72 second win over Virginia before the varsity eight captured the sweep with another win over the Cavaliers.
The stack of wins gave Stanford 132 points, comfortably ahead of No. 8 Virginia, which finished with 118 points. No. 6 Cal placed third with 108, while No. 10 Syracuse took fourth place with 103 points. The Cardinal’s varsity eight was named the ACC Crew of the Year, and Stanford’s Derek Byrnes earned ACC Coach of the Year honors for the second-consecutive season.
Stanford also placed five players on All-ACC teams. Senior Annika Jeffrey, juniors Celia Dupre and Matilda Drewett and sophomore Ella Casano were named to the All-ACC first team, with senior Nora Goodwillie earning second-team recognition.
The NCAA Championships, which will take place May 29-31 at Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Ga., are up next for Stanford. The Cardinal will enter the regatta as the No. 2 team in the country as they look to defend last year’s national championship.
Stanford’s first race is scheduled for 7:12 a.m. PT on Friday, when the varsity eight competes in its opening heat against Virginia, Columbia, Brown, Northeastern and Jacksonville. If Stanford wins the national championship, it would be its third in the last four seasons.