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USC Rowing Receives No. 4 Ranking in Preseason Coaches Poll
March 20, 2013 Complete CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll LOS ANGELES - In the first poll of the spring, the USC women's rowing team was ranked No. 4 in the CRCA (Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association)/USRowing Coaches Poll presented by Pocock Racing Shells on Wednesday, March 20. Last season, the Women of Troy opened the year ranked sixth and rose as high as No. 3 on May 2, and were again ranked sixth in the final poll on the heels of a sixth-place team finish at the NCAA championships. Defending NCAA champion Virginia received 20 of the 25 first-place votes and is ranked No. 1 in the poll. California checks in as the top-ranked team from the Pac-12 at No. 2 with five first-place votes. Princeton is No. 3, followed by fourth-ranked USC. Three-time NCAA champion and fellow Pac-12 foe Washington holds down the fifth-place ranking. Ohio State, 2012 NCAA runner-up Michigan, UCLA, Stanford, and Harvard round out the top 10 teams in the poll. Yale, Wisconsin, Brown, Notre Dame, and Cornell are ranked 11-15, while Michigan State and Clemson are ranked 16th and 17th respectively. Louisville, Washington State, and Columbia are each tied for 18th to top off the 20-team poll. Five Pac-12 teams are ranked in the top 10. With Washington State at 18th and Oregon State receiving votes, the conference has seven teams represented in the preseason poll. USC's No. 4 ranking ties the program's previous highest preseason ranking. The Trojans were also tabbed fourth in the 2008 preseason poll. That year, the team finished 10th in the final poll. The previous year (2007), USC's varsity eight started at No. 10 and was ranked No. 1 in the final poll heading into the NCAA championships. There, the Trojans' top boat finished third overall; a school record that was matched by the 2012 squad. Last season, USC's sixth-place team finish at the NCAA championships was just a few points shy of tying the program's two all-time best fifth-place finishes. The varsity eight finished in third, the second varsity eight won the petite final, and the varsity four won its race in the third final. The varsity eight finished in a close second at the Pac-12 championships as the Trojans took fifth place as a team. The same eight successfully defended the highly coveted Jessop-Whittier Cup as winners at the San Diego Crew Classic; the fourth cup victory in program history. This year, USC's first official races will take place at the 40th Annual San Diego Crew Classic regatta in San Diego on April 6-7. Please visit www.USCTrojans.com for more information. CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll - Presented by Pocock Racing Shells
Other Receiving Votes:: Duke University 41, Syracuse University 36, University of Minnesota 34, Dartmouth College 16, University of Oklahoma 7, University of Texas 6, University of Pennsylvania 4, University of Buffalo 1, University of Miami 1, University of Alabama 1, Oregon State University 1, University of Tennessee 1, University of Kansas 1, University of Iowa 1, Boston University 1, University of Central Florida 1
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