TACOMA, Wash. -- The NCAA has officially announced the field for the DIII Rowing Championships, with Puget Sound earning a spot amongst the nation's best. 

Riding one of their best seasons in over a decade, the Puget Sound Women's Crew Team is heading to the NCAA Championships at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Ga., on May 29th and 30th. The Loggers were one of eight institutions that had their name called in the selection show Tuesday afternoon, and are the lone team chosen outside of the Eastern Time Zone. 

Joining the Loggers in the field is Bates College, Williams College, Tufts University, Trinity College (Connecticut), Wellesley College, William Smith College, and Catholic University. 

The Loggers earned the bid after placing first at the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Championships (NCRC) on April 18th. They beat out three other Northwest hopefuls, Pacific Lutheran, Lewis & Clark, and Pacific, to secure an at-large bid out of the Northwest Region. 

The Women's 1V8+ followed up their performance at the NCRCs with their best finish since 2014 at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships on April 25th and 26th. They finished just 0.04 seconds behind DII California Polytechnic Humboldt University, rowing a time of 6:57.8. 

The Loggers also picked up several post-season awards, as Ellery Garcia, Maggie Smith, and Zella Kofron picked up All-NCRC honors. Logger head coach David Hammond also secured Coach of the Year honors for his work with the team. Garcia picked up All-WIRA honors as well, joining Kennedy Rose Stiver on the All-WIRA First Team. McKenna Kalkbrenner rounded out the list on the All-WIRA second team.

The Loggers take their success this season to Georgia, seeded seventh out of the eight selected teams for both the 1V8+ and 2V8+ boats. The 1V8+ will compete in heat two, and will be racing in lane five. The 2V8+ follows suit, also competing in heat two, lane five. 

On Friday, May 29th, the top two teams from each heat will advance to the Grand Final, with the other four teams competing in the Repechage later in the afternoon. The top two teams from the Repechage will advance to the Grand Final, with a total of six teams competing for the Championship on Saturday, May 30th. 

For more information, visit https://www.ncaa.com/sports/rowing/d3.