HADLEY, Mass. - Williams College will look to keep its place atop the conference mountain this Friday when the Ephs purse the NESCAC Men's and Women's Rowing Championships.

The NESCAC championship is awarded based on performance in the first varsity eight grand final race at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) National Invitational Rowing Championships, which will be held at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. on Friday. Fans can follow all the action live via webcast courtesy the ECAC. Complete race schedules and lane assignments will be available via Row2k, while live results are available via the ECAC.

During last year's ECAC-NIRC, Williams won the women's grand final with a time of 6:45.177. Bates placed second in 6:50.657, while Trinity was third among conference teams with a fourth-place showing, posting a time of 6:55.733. The performance gave the Ephs their sixth consecutive NESCAC crown and seventh overall.

In the men's grand final, the Ephs had the top performance among conference members with  second in 5:59.272. Trinity, the runner-up to Williams among NESCAC squads, was fifth in the race with a time of 6:05.451.

The Ephs secured their third-straight conference title in 2011 and fourth overall, as they won the inaugural men's title in 2004. Trinity won four NESCAC championships in a row from 2005-08.

This past Saturday at the New England Rowing Championships on Lake Quinsigamond, the Williams women won the varsity eight grand final with a 6:45.314 showing. Bates came in behind the Ephs by just under 10 seconds, while Trinity was fifth overall in 7:10.080.

On the men's side, the Ephs edged out the Bantams by 1.9 seconds for first, winning the grand final in 6:06.524. The Bobcats made it a one-two-three finish for NESCAC boats, crossing the line with a time of 6:10.265.

If the grand final at the ECAC-NIRC is not able to be conducted on Friday at Lake Quinsigamond, the NESCAC championships, and along with it the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA women's rowing championship at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J. on May 25-26, will be based on the results of the grand final from the New England Rowing Championships.