BOSTON – The Northeastern women's rowing team is going back to the NCAA Championships when their fate was revealed during the NCAA Selection Show on Tuesday night. NU will travel to Sacramento, California for the national championships from May 29 to May 31.The event will be held at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center and will be hosted by the Pac-12 Conference.
 
"We've had a great season and they've worked really hard," said Joe Wilhelm. "I couldn't be more proud of them. We have a very cohesive unit."
 
The Northeastern varsity eight, second varsity eight, and varsity four will compete in the regatta, marking the second straight team appearance for the Huskies and the sixth appearance by the varsity eight since the NCAA regatta was launched in 1997. The NU varsity earned top-10 finishes in four of its previous five trips, including a fourth-place showing in 1998.
 
The Huskies will row in the third heat of the varsity eight race against Stanford, Virginia, Washington State, Notre Dame and Jacksonville. The second varsity eight will take on Brown, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Princeton and Jacksonville in the third heat of that race, while the varsity four will battle Ohio State, Washington State, Wisconsin, Stanford and Jacksonville.
 
The team championship is composed of 22 teams. Eleven conferences were awarded automatic qualification and the remaining 11 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the championship field. Teams qualifying for the championship as an automatic qualifier or as an at-large are required to field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers. For the I Eights, II Eights and Fours, all 22 boats will be seeded into four heats.
 
"We're all very proud and excited for this opportunity," said senior co-captain Chloe Laverack. "Even though we've done it two years in a row, it's no less sweeter."

Heats and lane assignments:
Varsity Eight - Heat Three
Stanford
Virginia
Washington State
Notre Dame
Northeastern
Jacksonville  

Second Varsity Eight - Heat Three
Brown
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Princeton
Northeastern
Jacksonville

Varsity Four - Heat Four
Ohio State
Washington State
Wisconsin
Stanford
Northeastern
Jacksonville
 
At last year's NCAA Championships
At the 2014 national championships in Indianapolis, the Huskies finished above Conference USA champion Oklahoma, Patriot League champion Boston University, Atlantic-10 champion Massachusetts and MAAC champion Jacksonville to complete the season as a top-20 team in the nation.
 
The varsity four won the D Final to place 19th, and both the varsity eight (18th) and second varsity eight (19th) placed sixth in their respective C Finals. In finishing 18th, the varsity eight outperformed its seed (19) entering the competition.
 
Northeastern garnered 27 team points (15 from the varsity eight, eight from the second varsity, and four from the varsity four) to earn its 18th-place standing.
 
"I think we performed about as well as we could this weekend as the number 18 team in the country," head coach Joe Wilhelm said. "This was an eye-opening experience for us to come out here and see the level of competition that we want to be at. I hope this inspires us to come back here again and continue to improve."