Coming into the NCAA championships as the 13th-ranked team in the nation, the UW women’s crew exceeded expectations by finishing seventh out of the 16-team field, but still left Cherry Hill, N.J., knowing they could have performed better.

“I don’t really remember much of the race, but it’s disappointing,” said varsity seven seat Adrienne Martelli. “Any time you don’t win is disappointing. I just don’t think we executed what we came out here to do.”

The Huskies had a strong start to the weekend, with each of their boats finishing in the top three and moving on to the semifinals without having to race again in any of the second-chance races.

The semifinals were a different story for the Dawgs, as only the second varsity team finished in the top three to move on to the final yesterday. It was there that the Huskies had a solid start, reaching the 500-meter mark in third place. But, by the end of the race, the Dawgs faded into fifth place.

Failing to make the grand finale, the first varsity crew raced in the petite finals Sunday, where they finished in fifth place — 11th overall.

“I think they did the best they could,” said head coach Bob Ernst. “The three races the varsity boat had out here were pretty consistent with the final results. That’s about where they are.”

The varsity four experienced a heartbreaking defeat that edged the boat out of the top three in the semifinals. Coming into the last 500 meters, the Huskies were leading Virginia for that coveted last spot in the grand finale, but crossed the finish line less than a second behind the Cavaliers.

In the petite finals, the Dawgs came in third place following a photo finish with Michigan, with a time that would’ve been good enough for third in the grand finals but placed them ninth overall.

“This was a great experience for the freshmen women in the [varsity] four,” said assistant coach Nicole Minett. “There was some strong racing from the grand final to the petite final. It was a good result for them sprinting through the end, even with the photo finish with Michigan.”

The Huskies’ middle-of-the-pack finish was not surprising to Ernst, but he believes they were capable of doing better.

“I think that’s about where we are right now, about the seventh or eighth best team here,” he said. “It’s disappointing. We’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s not an easy process trying to rebuild this team to get back on top.”

At the end of their crew season, the future appears to be bright for the women’s team. With few seniors on the team, the Huskies will be returning many of their members, who now have a year of NCAA championship experience.

“Overall, we have a lot of freshmen here on this team,” Ernst said. “Potential’s not worth a thing unless you do something with it, so we’ll see how they’re prepared when they come back to school in the fall.”

Reach reporter Scott Eisen at sports@dailyuw.com.