PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – Bolstered by an upset win over the No. 1-seeded Princeton varsity crew, the Washington women's rowing team advanced to A/B semifinals in all three race categories Friday on day one of the NCAA Rowing Championships on Cooper River.
 
The Huskies finished first in their varsity eight heat and second in both their second eights and fours heats to move through to the top semifinals, which will be held Saturday morning. Each race category will have two A/B semifinals, with the top three of six in each moving through to Sunday's grand finals.
 
Of the 22 rowing programs in the NCAA Division I field, 10 had all three crews qualify for A/B semifinals: Brown, California, Michigan, Princeton, SMU, Stanford, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Yale.
 
In the first Division I race of the regatta, the No. 8-seeded Husky varsity eight took on No. 1 Princeton in heat one.
 
From the start, those two crews moved to the front, with Virginia and Rutgers fighting for the third qualifying spot and USC back in fifth in the five-boat heat.
 
Washington never let the Tigers get more than a couple of seats ahead in the early going and, at 1,000 meters, made a move to nearly draw even with the Ivy League crew, trailing by a 10th of a second at the halfway mark. In the third 500, Washington's shell, coxed by Nina Castagna and stroked by Ella Cossill, moved to the front and led by a small margin in at the 1,500-meter buoy.
 
In the final 500, the Huskies increased their lead with each stroke and crossed the finish line with a full-length lead over Princeton. Washington's final time as 6:23.627, 3.62 second ahead of the Tigers' 5:26.987. UVa pulled away from Rutgers to finish a comfortable third.
 
Washington's time in its varsity eights heat was more than three seconds faster than the winners of the other three heats.
 
In the UW's second varsity eights heat, the Huskies, Stanford and Michigan quickly moved ahead of the other three crews. After sitting third very early on, the No. 4-seed Huskies moved past Michigan into second.
 
Those three took an open-water lead over the rest of the field and settled into their positions, with the No. 5-seeded Cardinal leading throughout.
 
At the finish line, Stanford won the race by bit more than a length, in a time of 6:38.197. Washington was 4.31 seconds back, in 6:42.507, with another seven-plus seconds back to Michigan in third.
 
In Washington's final race of the morning, the varsity fours heat, No. 2-seeded Yale took the lead from the starting dock, with Washington and SMU in the lead pack.
 
The Bulldogs opened up their lead by 500, with open water back to Washington, which held a similar advantage over SMU.
 
With the semifinal places pretty well clinched for Yale and UW, those two crews proceeded down the course while Penn gave SMU a challenge for the important third spot. In the latter stages of the heat, Yale and UW were both several lengths of open water in front with the Huskies maintaining contact. 
 
The Elis crossed in 7:23.491, with Washington 3.754 back in 7:27.245. Another 15 seconds back, SMU held off Penn for the final A/B semifinal berth.
 
Saturday, the Huskies will race in their three A/B semis, needing a top-three finish in each to qualify for Sunday's grand finals.
 
Here is the schedule for the UW's semifinals (subject to change):

5:48 a.m. PT – V8+, A/B Semifinal #2, lanes 1-6: Virginia, Michigan, UW, Stanford , Yale, Brown 
6:36 a.m. PT – 2V8+, A/B Semifinal #2, lanes 1-6: SMU, Brown, Texas, Princeton, UW, Virginia
7:24 a.m. PT – V4+, A/B Semifinal #2, lanes 1-6: Duke, UW, Texas, Virginia, Princeton, Michigan
 
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: Isabel van Opzeeland (Hoofddorp, Netherlands)
6: Abby Adebiyi (London, England, U.K.)
5: Dimitra Tsamopoulou (Athens, Greece)
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./Oak Ridge)