Miami women’s rowing continues to push the program into new territory.
The Hurricanes moved to No. 14 in the latest CRCA Coaches Poll released Tuesday, matching the highest ranking in program history and giving Miami another sign of progress before this week’s ACC Championships. The latest poll places Miami behind No. 13 Duke and ahead of No. 15 Alabama.
Miami has earned that respect with speed. The Hurricanes opened the season by moving into the poll at No. 19 after winning four races at the Cardinal Invitational, which marked only the second CRCA ranking in program history at that point.
Since then, Miami has kept building. The Hurricanes first reached No. 14 on April 21 after a third-place finish at the Orlando Invitational, where three crews set program records. Miami’s first varsity eight broke the school record with a 6:18.9, while the second varsity eight and second varsity four also set new program standards.
Miami then backed that up at the Lake Wheeler Invitational. The Hurricanes closed the regular season with three more record-breaking performances and finished first or second in 11 races. The first varsity eight won its race in 6:18.81, beating No. 15 Alabama, No. 25 Oklahoma, Navy, George Washington, Kansas and Villanova while breaking the program record again.
Head coach James Mulcahy has a team peaking at the right time. Miami’s varsity eight has become the headline boat, but the recent results show depth across the lineup. The second varsity eight set a program record at Lake Wheeler with a 6:26.01, and the second varsity four lowered its own mark to 7:16.10.
That depth will matter in Raleigh. The ACC Championships begin Friday, May 15. The league meet starts with preliminaries Friday morning and moves into petite and grand finals Saturday.
The conference will not give Miami an easy lane. The latest CRCA poll includes seven ACC teams in the top 25: No. 3 Stanford, No. 6 California, No. 8 Virginia, No. 10 Syracuse, No. 13 Duke, No. 14 Miami and No. 23 North Carolina.
Miami has a chance to turn a strong regular season into a postseason statement. No. 14 reflects what their times already showed. Miami has gone from a program trying to crack the national conversation to one carrying real momentum into championship season. A strong weekend at Lake Wheeler would strengthen Miami’s NCAA résumé and continue one of the most impressive climbs by any Hurricanes program this spring.
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