PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The Washington women's rowing team saw two of its three crews earn spots in NCAA Championships grand finals, with a win in the second eights semifinal, a second-place in the first eights, and a fourth-place finish in the four Saturday on Cooper River.
 
The Huskies will compete for their sixth NCAA title Sunday with a solid shot, as the UW qualified for the grand final in both the varsity eight and second varsity eight. Washington's four will compete in the petite final (places 7-12).
 
The NCAA Championship is based on points and is determined by finishes in all three boat categories, with 66 points for the winner in the varsity eights, 44 in the second eights and 22 in the four; with each descending place earning three, two and one fewer points, respectively.
 
The three UW finals are scheduled for 6:24 a.m. PT (fours); 7:00 a.m. (second eights); and 7:24 a.m. (eights) tomorrow.
 
In Saturday's racing, A/B semifinals were contested in all three race categories, with the top-three finishers in each semi earning a place in the grand final (places 1-6) and the remainder moving through to the petite final (7-12).
 
The Huskies opened their day in their varsity eight semi, pitted most notably against Stanford. Those two crews moved to the front, with the Cardinal crossing the 500-meter mark a deck-length in front of the Washington boat, with Yale third.
 
Stanford built on its lead as it went, but never completely shook the UW's pursuit.
 
All three of the top crews in the race – Stanford, UW and Yale – seemed content with their places, and while the Elis had to fend off a late challenge from Michigan, those three went through to the grand final.
 
Stanford won the V8+ semifinal with a time of 6:10.993, while the Huskies crossed in 6:14.455, 3.462 seconds and a length behind. Yale was another length back, finishing in 6:17.955.
 
In the Huskies' second varsity eight semifinal, the Huskies were seeded behind both Texas and Princeton, which had each won heats on Friday, while UW had finished second.
 
But, the Huskies, racing in lane five, grabbed the lead from the start and never surrendered it. Stroked by Roosevelt High alum Ava Mueleman, the Huskies 2V8+ led a tightly-packed top three through much of the course, holding off challenges from both the Tigers and Longhorns.
 
Washington crossed the finish line with a time of 6:18.363, 2.29 seconds in front of second-place Texas (6:20.653). Princeton was a comfortable third, five seconds back of UW, but five more in front of fourth-place Brown.
 
The Huskies' fours semifinal was tight throughout, though Texas led for the entire 2,000 meters. At 500 meters, Washington sat in fifth place, but only about two seconds back of the leaders.
 
At 1,000 and 1,500 meters, the Huskies were in third position, trailing Texas and Princeton, but ahead of Virginia.
 
However, the Cavaliers recorded the fastest 500 meters of all six crews in the field and passed the Huskies to take the third and final qualifying spots.
 
Texas won in 7:07.189 with Princeton second, in 7:09.013. Virginia crossed in 7:10.187, about 1.3 seconds ahead of Washington (7:11.489).
 
Fans can watch live video of the entire regatta at NCAA.com/live.
 
WASHINGTON LINEUPS
 
First Eight
Shell: Kit Green
Cox: Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills)
Stroke: Ella Cossill (Waikato, New Zealand )
7: Elena Collier-Hezel (Buffalo, N.Y./Park School/Michigan)
6: Angharad Broughton (Cardiff, Wales, U.K.)
5: Nikki Martincic (Newtown, Sydney, Australia)
4: Mira Calder (Victoria, B.C., Canada/Claremont)
3: Madi Frampton (Tumwater, Wash.)
2: Aisha Rocek (Como, Italy)
Bow: McKenna Bryant (Kent, Wash./Kennedy Catholic)
 
Second Eight
Shell: Dottie Simpson
Cox: Grace Murdock (Roswell, Ga./Milton)
Stroke: Ava Meuleman (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt)
7: Dimitra Tsamopoulou (Athens, Greece)
6: Abby Adebiyi (London, England, U.K.)
5: Isabel van Opzeeland (Hoofddorp, Netherlands)
4: Grace Vander Griend (Bellingham, Wash./Sehome)
3: Jordan Freer (Lotus, Calif./El Dorado/UCSB)
2: Shakira Mirfin (Invercargill, New Zealand)
Bow: Leah Nash (Chatham, Mass./Monomoy)
 
Four
Shell: Wendell S. Sykes
Stroke: Cait Whittard (St. Catharines, Ont., Canada)
3: Renee Hopper (Preston, Wash./Issaquah)
2: Brigit O'Rourke (West Seattle, Wash./Vashon Island)
Bow: Claire Marion (San Marcos, Calif./San Marcos)
Cox: Carina Baxter (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oa