BETHEL, Ohio - Each of Rhode Island's three boats finished according to seed in their respective flights during the opening heats of the 2024 NCAA Women's Rowing Championship on Friday morning.

The top three boats in each heat advanced to Saturday's A/B Semifinals. The remaining boats will compete in the C/D Semifinals.

The Rams raced on choppy water in windy conditions, with the Varsity 8+ kicking off the action. Rhody's crew of coxswain Lily Stasaitis, stroke Catie Castle, Bethany Nordstrom, Nicole Jones, Samantha Gumprecht, Cait Reardon, Emma Barnhart, Sarah Pecoraro and Bella Bruno maintained contact with SMU through the first half of the race but finished just off of the Mustangs' pace. 

In the Second Varsity 8+, the lineup of coxswain Ellie McGee, stroke Jessica Tosi, Olivia Kowalski, Hailey Pardi, Sammie Gorecki, Eryn Wale, Amanda Cubit, Maia Hembruff and Emma Larsh went up against Yale, Ohio State, Brown, Indiana and SMU. URI's heat time of 7:36.3 bested Gonzaga (Heat 1, 7:42.8), Boston Unversity (Heat 2, 7:42.3) and Jacksonville (Heat 3, 7:51.3) 

Coxswain Evelyn Tabor, stroke Emily Olin, Irma Accius, Abby Galayda and Emma Brookins maintained contact with SMU throughout the first 500m of its heat in the Varsity 4+ before allowing the Mustangs to pull away.

The Rams' Varsity 8+ will compete in the 8:08 a.m. C/D Semifinal on Saturday morning, lining up in lane six. Gonzaga (lane two), Rutgers (lane three), Duke (lane four) and Northeastern (lane five) will join URI. The top three boats will advance to the C Final, with the remaining two moving on to the D Final. 

Rhody's Second Varsity 8+ advanced to the 8:48 a.m. C/D Semifinal. Rhode Island will race in lane one, joined by SMU (lane two), Rutgers (lane three), Duke (lane four) and Northeastern (lane five).

The Varsity 4+ will race in lane six during the 9:12 a.m. C/D Semifinal. SMU (lane two), Indiana (lane three), Duke (lane four) and Northeastern (lane five) will also be in action. 

Rhode Island Results - Opening Heats
Varsity 8+ - Heat 4
1. Tennessee - 7:00.2
2. California - 7:04.4
3. Ohio State - 7:05.8
4. Indiana - 7:24.5
5. SMU - 7:30.1
6. Rhode Island - 7:38.9

Second Varsity 8+ - Heat 4
1. Yale - 6:55.1.
2. Ohio State - 6:58.6
3. Brown - 7:00.8
4. Indiana - 7:12.2
5. SMU - 7:24.8
6. Rhode Island - 7:36.3

Varsity 4+ - Heat 4
1. Yale - 7:41.2
2. Brown - 7:50.6
3. Rutgers  7:52.8
4. Virginia - 7:56.9
5. SMU - 8:28.4
6. Rhode Island - 8:38.4