Field: The championship is composed of 311 total competitors and provides for three events (I Eights; II Eights and Fours), each covering a 2,000-meter course. Ten teams will be selected, and each team is required to field two boats of eight rowers each and one boat of four rowers. In addition, nine eight-women boats from institutions not represented in the team competition will be selected. A minimum of 36 of the 311 berths will be allocated to participants from Divisions II and III.

Dates and site: The championship will be May 26-28 at Cooper River Park, Camden County, New Jersey. Pennsylvania and the Eastern College Athletic Conference are the co-hosts.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/563-1133 (pin code 1915); request numbers are 1847 for brackets and schedules, 1848 for ticket information, 5136 for day one results, 5137 for day two results and 5138 for day three results. Championship results will appear in the June 5 issue of The NCAA News.

Championship notes: Senior Sabina Telenska will try to lead Washington back to the title in 2000. She is the only remaining member of the record-setting I Eights team that claimed the first NCAA championship in 1997. Telenska and her teammates have been ranked No. 1 all year and have yet to be beaten on the season. California, though, led the Huskies' I Eights for the first 1,000 meters of head-to-head competition before taking its first loss of the season. The Bears, which have been ranked as high as No. 3, are led by Megan Dirkmaat and Caroline Ingham, who both spent the summer rowing for the U.S. national team. Defending champion Brown also is undefeated this season, including avenging an autumn loss to Southern California by more than 11 seconds. After being the preseason favorite, Brown ranks No. 2 in the polls as of April 17.