Clemson, S.C. – The Miami rowing team took the water on day one of the 21^st annual Atlantic Coast Conference Championship with one goal in mind: take care of business in the heat races and turn the focus to Saturday.

And that is exactly what the Canes did.

For the first time since joining the ACC in 2004, all three varsity eight boats will be competing in their respective Grand Final events on Saturday after finishing in the top three in each of their heat races.

The third varsity eight boat was the first Miami crew to qualify for the grand final, crossing the finish line third in a time of 7:15.076. Like the 3v8, the first varsity eight and second varsity eight also finished in third, posting 2000-meter times of 6:46.462 and 6:59.710.

The second heat of the 2v8 was one of the most thrilling races of the day as the Canes edged out the Louisville Cardinals by four-tenths of a second to earn a spot in Saturday’s grand final race.

“Both the 1v8 and 2v8 had points in the race where they executed at the exact right moment to set themselves up for a good finish,” head coach Dave Sanderson said. “All three varsity eight boats did what they needed to do to make the grand final and now the focus is on performing at a high level tomorrow.”

Miami’s only varsity four boat finished the 2,000-meter race in a time of 7:59.945, good for a fourth-place showing and a trip to the Petite Final on Saturday.

The Canes will begin racing at 8:15 a.m. with the 3v8 Grand Final, followed by the 1v4 Petite Final at 8:55 a.m., the 2v8 Grand Final at 9:30 a.m. and the 1v8 Grand Final at 9:55 a.m.

Day two of the ACC Championship will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.