May 30, 2009

CHERRY HILL, N.J.--After two days of racing at the 2009 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships, both Western Washington and Mercyhurst have qualified for the Grand Finals in the Division II Eights and Division II Fours, respectively. Repechage races on Saturday morning filled all of the spots in the final races, which go off on Sunday morning.

Mercyhurst and Western Washington, four-time defending national champions, had each advanced to the Grand Final of the Eights based on the heats from Friday. They were joined by Philadelphia University and Seattle Pacific based on the results of Saturday morning's races.

In the first repechage, Philadelphia University finished 1.24 seconds ahead of Seattle Pacific, with Dowling and Nova Southeastern coming in third and fourth, respectively. Philadelphia University was in first place at each of the 500-meter splits during the race.

Western Washington and Mercyhurst finished first and second in the repechage of the Division II Fours to join Nova Southeastern in the Grand Final. Western Washington had a winning time of 7:45.45 and came in 3.58 seconds ahead of Mercyhurst. In third place, Philadelphia University had a time of 8:00.10 and was 14.65 seconds off the pace.

The national championship race in the Fours goes off at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning. The Petite Final in the Eights follows at 9:15, with the Grand Final at 9:30.

Click on the link at the top of this release to access complete results for today's races.