Saturday's D1 semis at the NCAA Championships unfolded in beautiful conditions, in contrast to the heats on Friday. With the elimination of the reps, all the contenders in the A/B semis had only one race under their collective belts, and that guaranteed that every crew going into the semis could run their race today full-bore.

Varsity Eights

To steal a phrase from Fred Schoch, the field in the DI Varsity Eight is so tight "you could throw a blanket over all six crews!" Indeed, between semi 1, which saw Texas, Tennessee and Washington cross in 6:11/6:16/6:18 and semi 2 that had Stanford, Princeton and Brown over the line in 6:14/6:17/6:18, tomorrow's A-Final is going to be a heater.

On paper, this is Texas' race to lose, but it is never that simple.

"I think we strike a pretty good balance of being internal while racing other crews," said Texas coach Dave O'Neill. "By no means do we approach the race as a time trial, but it's not about just getting ahead of another boat either. We never change what we do but use the competition to bring out the best in ourselves."

Stanford, the defending team champs, looked sharp in all boats.

Stanford coach Derek Byrnes was not giving anything away. "We're pretty excited to race," he said after the racing. "We have a good group. It looks like there are our five teams out there that put a boat in every Final, so it should be should be exciting to see how this all unfolds."

For Tennessee, who not only qualified all three crews to tomorrow's Grand Finals for the first time in team history, but also posted the third fastest time of the entire day in today's semi, the way the athletes and coaches framed the season made all the difference.

The Tennessee crews made program history today

"I think that it wasn't so much as an expectation, but just more about what our team goals were and what we wanted to accomplish as a team," said UT coach Kim Cupini. "Being in the Grand Finals with all three boats and just performing well, not just with the NCAA boats, but the boats throughout the year. Our 3V took down some big Division One 2Vs this year. We've just been really proud as a team doing what we wanted to do, and it was less about expectations and more about our goals."

2nd Varsity Eights

With one difference, the same crews will race in tomorrow's A-Finals for the 2nd Varsity -- Yale finished second in their semi advance, while Brown finished fifth in the same race and will race in the Petites.

"Managing all the boats can certainly be a challenge, so the key is to make sure everyone and every crew has what they need to be at their best," said Texas' O'Neill. "It can make for some quick walks and being aware of where we need to be on race day, but it's not too difficult."

The Washington 2V

"Semifinal day today is one of the most most nerve wracking days of the year, in my opinion," said Washington coach Yaz Farooq, whose 2V won their semi ahead of Yale and Princeton. "This year, I think this is the most competitive NCAA we've had. Yesterday, the heat we were in with the varsity eight, had four teams that were ranked in the top 10 last year, and to have one of those teams not make it through to the semifinal just shows you the level of competition that exists now.

"We're really psyched to be one of five teams to have all their boats make it through, and tomorrow is our opportunity to race for national championship and we can't wait to get good get started."

Varsity Fours

The same six teams that qualified in the 2nd Varsity Eight will also contest tomorrow's final in the Varsity Four -- Princeton, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Yale.

Stanford V4

Focus on the Team Points

Of the 22 DI teams at the championship, five have put all three of their crews into tomorrow's A-finals: Princeton, Stanford, Tennesse, Texas and Washington, and while it's not out of the question that teams in the Petite finals could score enough points to break into this group, these five teams are unquestionably the ones with the best chances for the team title.

Of these five teams, Stanford was the only team to win each of their semifinals (Texas finished second to Stanford in their 2V semi), while Texas recorded the fastest times in two out of the three events raced today.

The Stanford crews won all three of their semis today

As far as taking care of individual boats versus the pursuit of the team title, most coaches said that the NCAA championship regatta is a balancing act.

"The three days of this regatta can be a real grind, but it's also a lot of fun," said Texas' O'Neill. "We talk about it feeling like a season in itself. We know we're in the hunt and need to be prepared for some intense racing tomorrow. The team will bring out the in each other as they've done all year, and we'll see where the points land."

"Everyone is aware of the bigger picture, and that something I really love about this regatta. Throughout the year, no one was caught up in which boat she was in. It had always been what's best for the team. Earlier this week we had to reshuffle lineups. Nadja Yaroschuk went from bow of the second eight to stroke of the four because that's what we needed. She and everyone else is all in on doing whatever the team needs. It's fun to be a part of something like this."

Princeton's Dauphiny concurred. "I think we focus most on taking care of each boat and in the process each other which makes the team stronger, and we don't discuss the points much."

Princeton 1V

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