May 21, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Fresh off winning the BIG EAST Conference Championship for the 10th consecutive season last weekend, the University of Notre Dame rowing team was selected to compete at the 2013 NCAA Championship, the NCAA announced Tuesday.
The NCAA Division I, II and III championship races, co-hosted by Notre Dame and the Indiana Sports Corporation, will be held May 31-June 2 at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis.
The Irish will make their sixth all-time appearance at the NCAA Championship and second straight trip to the national races after earning a bid to last season’s event on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. Notre Dame’s varsity four entry earned runner-up honors in the Petite Finals of the 2012 NCAA Championship.
For the second straight season, the Irish were the lone BIG EAST team to qualify for the NCAA regatta. The Pac-12 had six member institutions chosen, while the Ivy League will send five representatives to the races for the second straight season. Joining Notre Dame at Eagle Creek Park is Boston University, Brown, California, Cornell, Gonzaga, Harvard, Marist, Michigan, Navy, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Princeton, Rhode Island, Southern California, Stanford, UCLA, Virginia, Washington, Washington State, Wisconsin and Yale.
The 2013 NCAA Championship will be the first to feature 22 teams, up from the traditional 16-team field. Teams that qualified for the championship regatta are required to field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers.
Notre Dame opens the NCAA Championship in the third heat of the first varsity eight, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. May 31. The No. 11 Irish will race in the first eight against No. 6 California, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 14 Cornell, No. 19 Navy and No. 22 Marist. The second varsity eight will begin at approximately 10:10 a.m., with No. 11 Notre Dame squaring off against No. 3 Southern California, No. 6 Princeton, No. 14 Oklahoma, No. 19 Gonzaga and No. 22 Marist in the third heat. The varsity four closes the first day of races at 11 a.m., with the No. 12 Irish clashing against No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Washington, No. 13 Michigan, No. 20 Navy and No. 21 Gonzaga.
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