Women’s Rowing Wraps Up 2026 Season at NCAA Division II Rowing National Championship

5/29/2026 11:24:00 PM | By: Zach Phillips

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Embry-Riddle women's rowing put together a strong performance on Friday afternoon at the Division II national championship as they were one of only three schools to advance both their Varsity Four and Varsity Eight to the Grand Finals. After earning runner-up finishes in their morning heats, the pair of ERAU boats secured spots in the afternoon championship races. The Blue and Gold capped the day with a pair of fourth-place finishes, totaling 15 points to finish fifth in the team standings.

The day began with the Varsity Eight competing in Heat 1 against Western Washington and Jefferson. Western Washington claimed the heat victory in 6:42.98, while the Eagles crossed the line second at 6:53.43 to punch their ticket to the Grand Final. Embry-Riddle joined Seattle Pacific, Cal Poly Humboldt, and Western Washington in the championship race.

Less than 20 minutes later, the V4+ clinched their spot in the Grand Final as well with a runner-up finish at a time of 7:49.86, trailing Western Washington by a few seconds who crossed the line with a time of 7:45.29. The other two teams to advance to the V4+ Final were Cal Poly Humboldt and Jefferson.

In the V8+ grand final, Embry-Riddle finished in fourth place during a competitive race that saw all four boats finish within 10 seconds of each other and Humboldt crossing the line just two seconds in front of ERAU. The final time for the Eagles was 6:51.86.

Closing out the day was the V4+ grand final, which saw another race came all the way down to the wire. There was only 3.5 seconds between the boats in first and third place, with the Blue and Gold being the next boat to cross the line for a fourth-place finish at 7:52.47.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS