The No. 12 California women's rowing team is set to compete in its 26th straight NCAA Championships from Friday through Sunday at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey. The 25 previous NCAA Championship appearances are the fifth most of any team in the country as the Golden Bears have only missed out twice with the regatta first taking place in 1997.
 
The Bears have won four national titles, which rank third in the NCAA – with two coming under current head coach Al Acosta (2016 and 2018) and Cal also winning championships in 2006 and 2005. Cal has 14 top-3 finishes at the NCAA Championships, which rank second in the country behind Brown.
 
The Bears were one of 13 teams to earn an at-large bid into the 22-team field and are one of four ACC schools represented. Cal will enter the regatta as the No. 14 seed in the varsity eight, the No. 16 seed in the second varsity eight, and the No. 11 seed in the varsity four.
 
The top three of each heat from Friday will next race in the A/B semifinals and the rest will go to the C/D semifinals on Saturday. From the top semifinals, three boats will go to the A (Grand) final, three to the B (Petite) final, and three to the C/D finals on Sunday.
 
All races will be live streamed on http://www.ncaa.com and live results will be posted on https://www.regattatiming.com.
 
At last year's NCAA Championships at Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio, the Bears finished in ninth place overall with 84 points as the V8+ won the petite final and the 2V8+ and V4+ finished in sixth and third place of their respective petite finals.
 
Cal is coming off a fourth-place finish at the ACC Championships that were held earlier in May at Lake Hartwell in Clemson, South Carolina. Heading into the grand final of the V8+ race, the Bears were tied for third place but were edged out by Virginia by just over a second to finish fourth overall.

Scoring
The NCAA team champion is determined by total points earned across all three boat categories. The First Varsity Eight winner earns 66 points, with each subsequent boat earning three fewer (63 for second, 60 for third, etc.). The Second Varsity Eight winner receives 44 points, decreasing by two per position. The Varsity Four winner earns 22 points, with each following team earning one point fewer. In the event of a tie, the higher placing First Varsity Eight breaks the tie.
 
Schedule of Races (All times PT)
 
Friday - Heats
 
7:12 a.m. – V8+ (Heat 3): Boston, Dartmouth, Tennessee, Rutgers, California, Fairfield
 
7:36 a.m. – 2V8+ (Heat 1): Indiana, Rutgers, Stanford, Harvard, California
 
8:48 a.m. – V4+ (Heat 3): Boston, California, Syracuse, Rutgers, UCF, Fairfield
 
Saturday - Semifinals
 
5:12 a.m. – V8+ semifinal CD
5:24 a.m. – V8+ semifinal CD
5:36 a.m. – V8+ semifinal AB
5:48 a.m. – V8+ semifinal AB
 
6 a.m. – 2V8+ semifinal CD
6:12 a.m. – 2V8+ semifinal CD
6:24 a.m. – 2V8+ semifinal AB
6:36 a.m. – 2V8+ semifinal AB
 
6:48 a.m. – V4+ semifinal CD
7 a.m. – V4+ semifinal CD
7:12 a.m. – V4+ semifinal AB
7:24 a.m. – V4+ semifinal AB
 
Sunday – Finals
 
5:12 a.m. – V4+ final 4
5:24 a.m. – V4+ final 3
 
5:36 a.m. – 2V8+ final 4
5:48 a.m. – 2V8+ final 3
 
6 a.m. – V8+ final 4
6:12 a.m. – V8+ final 3
 
6:24 a.m. – V4+ petite final
6:36 a.m. – V4+ grand final
 
6:48 a.m. – 2V8+ petite final
7 a.m. – 2V8+ grand final
 
7:12 a.m. – V8+ petite final
7:24 a.m. – V8+ grand final
 
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For further coverage of Cal women's rowing, follow the Bears on Instagram (@calwrowing) and Facebook (Cal Crew).