Alabama Rowing Qualifies for First NCAA Championship in Program History
5/18/2021 6:05:00 PM | Rowing
The Crimson Tide earned one of 12 at-large bids to the field of 22
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama rowing was selected as one of 22 Division-I teams for the 2021 NCAA Rowing Championships Tuesday, earning the Crimson Tide's first NCAA bid in program history.
The 2021 NCAA Rowing Championships will take place May 28-30 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla. Alabama earned one of 12 at-large bids for the championship field, joined by the 10 automatic qualifying bids from the various conference champions. Each team will have three boats competing in the championship field, with separate seedings for each boat classification. The Tide's 1V8+ crew earned its highest seed at No. 11, with the 1V4+ coming in at No. 13 and the 2V8+ at No. 17.
Alabama's 1V8+ will face Navy, Stanford, Rutgers, Syracuse and Marist in its first heat on May 28. The 2V8+ will face SMU, Washington, Brown and Princeton while the 1V4+ will race Navy, Washington State, Virginia, Washington and Northeastern.
The championship bid is another in a series of firsts for the program this season under third-year head coach Glenn Putyrae, as the Crimson Tide earned its first top-10 ranking in program history, climbing as high as No.7 during its campaign.
Alabama is coming off a second-place finish at last weekend's Big 12 Championships, matching its highest finish from 2019 in Putyrae's debut season at the helm in which he was named Big 12 Coach of the Year. The Tide medaled in all four races this year, including three silver medals, with Brittany Hill, Claudia Mecchia, Rebekah Stewart, Darcy Jennings and Izzie Gonzales earning All-Big 12 accolades.
FROM HEAD COACH GLENN PUTYRAE
"Getting to the national championship is a huge accomplishment. When we talk to our team and recruits, we tell them that when they come here, they have a chance to win championships. Anybody racing in this regatta can win the national championship and now we get to take our shot. We've raced a grueling schedule. We knew, having never been selected to the championship before, we would have to have a body of work that would be unassailable in the eyes of the selectors. We were unafraid of putting ourselves out there with the opportunity for this moment and we're excited about it."
For the latest information on the team, follow @AlabamaRow on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Rowing on Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
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