Stanford was one of 16 schools invited to the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships yesterday. The No. 3 Cardinal is one of the five Pac-10 schools headed to the championships May 27-29 on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif. The other Pac-10 competitors are Cal, USC, Washington and Washington State.

Joining the five Pac-10 schools will be Virginia, Brown, Clemson, Dartmouth, Harvard, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Princeton, Wisconsin and Yale. Virginia is the defending NCAA champion. Each team must field boats in the I Eight, II Eight and Four classes.

Stanford placed second in the Pac-10 Championships at Lake Natoma last weekend. The Cardinal’s II Eight boat won its second straight conference title while the I Eight team finished second.

The Cardinal finished fourth in last year’s championships and won its only national title in 2009.