The University of Minnesota’s Second Varsity Eight will compete in tomorrow’s Grand Final, while the Golden Gophers’ First Varsity Eight and Varsity Four will compete in the Petite Final to conclude the NCAA Championships, tomorrow, in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Minnesota’s Second Varsity Eight started the race in the middle of the pack, holding the third-fastest 500 meters. However, by the time they hit the 1,000-meter mark the Gophers jumped from third to first as they held the fastest second 500 split time of 1:38.21, which was two seconds faster then second-place Washington. The Gophers maintained their lead at the 1,500-meter mark but Washington closed in on the Gophers and edged Minnesota at the finish line by less than a second in a time of 6:39.32 to Minnesota’s 6:39.94. The Gopher boat of Kaja Tally, Mary Ann Weinzierl, Christine O'Donnell, Maggie Armstrong, Catherine Casey, Ashlee Vilmo, Heidi Bechtel, Sarah Graham and Katie Johnson at the bow, drew lane six and will compete for the event title against California (lane 1), Ohio State (lane 2), Virginia (lane 3), Brown (lane 4) and the Huskies (lane 5) at 11:15 a.m.

The Gophers started the second day of the championships with the First Varsity Eight. The Gophers raced against all of the Ivy League teams in Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard (Radcliffe), Princeton and Yale. Yale led the race from start to finish, jumping off the start line with a 1:29.30 split and finished with the best time of semifinal races of 6:22.93. The Gophers, however, fell to sixth place with a time of 6:30.72 and will compete in the Petite Final tomorrow 11:45 a.m. The Gopher boat of coxswain Megan Flannery, Laura Jatautaite at stroke, team captain Cheryl Wick, Jennifer Barnes, Erika Bartkute, Vilma Stragyte, Sally Olson, Berit Tomten, and Jenna Buskohl will compete against Stanford (lane 1), Dartmouth (lane 2), Radcliffe (lane 3), Notre Dame (lane 4) and Tennessee (lane 6)

The Gophers’ Varsity Four just missed the Grand Final, finishing third in their repechage. Only the top two finishers qualify for the Grand Final, missing it by two seconds. Minnesota held the fastest split time in the third 500 meters with a 1:56.34 to close in on Washington, but the Huskies held on to second place. Yale earned the repechage win with a time of 7:33.20, followed by UW in 7:35.61, while the Gophers clocked a time of 7:37.16. Minnesota will compete in the Petite Final tomorrow at 10:15 a.m., against Ohio State (lane 1), Harvard (lane 2), Southern Cal (lane 4), Notre Dame (lane 5) and Tennessee (lane 6). Competing in Minnesota’s Varsity Four is coxswain Erica Niemiec, Lauren VanProosdy, Rebecca Brzozowski, Rachel Hotkowski and Emily Baxter at 10:30 a.m.

Varsity Eight Semi-final 1
1. Yale, 6:22.93
2. Brown, 6:25.50
3. Princeton, 6:27.25
4. Harvard, 6:27.62
5. Dartmouth, 6:30.72
6. Minnesota, 6:30.72

Second Varsity Eight -Repechage 2
1. Washington, 6:39.32
2. Minnesota, 6:39.94
3. Tennessee, 6:46.88
4. USC, 6:50.12
5. Notre Dame, 6:56.92

Varsity Four-Repechage
1. Yale, 7:33.20
2. Washington, 7:35.31
3. Minnesota, 7:37.16
4. Notre Dame, 7:46.61
5. Ohio State, 7:46.90