Virginia finished fourth at the NCAA Rowing Championship on May 31 at Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. This marks the Cavaliers’ highest team placement since securing third place in 2016.
The Cavaliers’ Second Varsity Eight finished third, while the Varsity Eight placed fourth and the Varsity Four was sixth in their respective championship races. Texas claimed victories in both the Varsity Eight and Varsity Four events and secured second place in the Second Varsity Eight to win the overall team title with 130 points. Stanford followed with 125 points, Tennessee with 119, and Virginia rounded out the top four with 114 points. Yale, Princeton, Washington, California, Syracuse, and Brown completed the top ten.
Head coach Wesley Ng said, “I am in awe of this team and their persistence throughout the entire year. Following last season’s NCAA Championships, our returners and newcomers made a commitment to the training, to one another, and to a shared vision of what this program could become. Like every NCAA regatta, there were significant challenges and unexpected turns along the way, but this group met each one with composure and resilience. I’m incredibly grateful for our coaching staff, whose expertise, preparation, and collaboration helped guide us through every phase of the season.”
Ng added that results are built through many small moments: “Results like this are never the product of a single race or a single crew. They are built through countless little moments that might seem irrelevant. I thought we showed a passion for seeking out the big things and the little details—but who can really say what makes the difference when everyone in this regatta is so well prepared!”
This appearance marks Virginia’s twelfth time finishing among the top four teams at nationals over their twenty-eight appearances during thirty years of competition. The Cavaliers have previously won two national team championships (2010 and 2012), three runner-up finishes (1999, 2005, 2007), as well as multiple boat class titles across different years.
Ng concluded by saying: “This is our program’s first top-four finish at the NCAA Championships in a decade… We’re proud of what this team accomplished… It feels like we’re just getting started.”
