The William Smith rowing team will return to the national stage May 29-30 when it heads to Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Georgia, for the 2026 NCAA Division III Rowing Championships. The Herons will be making their 14th trip to the NCAA Championships and first since 2016.  
 
The Herons, who are sixth in the latest CRCA/Pocock Coaches Poll, earned an automatic bid to the championship after clinching the Liberty League Championship earlier this month. William Smith will be one of eight teams sending their varsity eight and second varsity eight to Georgia to compete for the national championship. Top-ranked Bates (NESCAC), fifth-ranked Wellesley (NEWMAC) and 14th-ranked Catholic (Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference) also earned automatic bids to the championships. No. 2 Williams, No. 3 Tufts, No. 4 Trinity and Puget Sound earned the four at-large bids.
 
William Smith's varsity eight, which is powered by Lizzy Whitney, Linnea Darius, Kate Abdalla, Raya Schwartz, Alessandra Gialanella, Aubrey Ryan, Eden Grim, Leah Wiebe and Meghan Bartholomay, has put together a strong spring season, earning four Liberty League Boat of the Week awards. The Herons' top boat won gold medals at the Liberty League Championships and bronze medals at the New York State Championships. William Smith also swept head-to-head races with league rivals Ithaca and RIT.  At Sunday's NIRCs, the Herons were sixth in a field that included all but two of the boats in the NCAA field.
 
The Herons' 2V8 of Michaela Greco, Oliva Helms, Lily Liflander, Alessandra Gialanella, Paige Barnhart, Ainsley Kimball, Mariee Voss, Alayna Wian and Olivia Sainsbury has also had a successful spring. They have been named the Liberty League Boat of the Week twice, won a gold medal at the Liberty League Championships and a silver medal at the state championships. Like the 1V, the second varsity eight was sixth at the NIRCs.
 
Tufts is the two-time defending national champion.