MSU women’s crew coach Bebe Bryans predicted correctly Sunday when she said the first varsity eight boat would have a good chance of making the crew national championships.

Bryans said the team was contacted about its NCAA at-large berth right before practice Tuesday and everyone was “obviously really excited.”

The varsity women’s crew team has been in competition for four years and has made nationals in all four of its seasons. Bryans said in the team’s four years, this year’s national championship competition is the strongest ever.

“It’s an excellent field,” she said.

Bryans said the team’s goal has been to be in the top six in all competitions this year and said that will continue to be the plan for the national championships.

“(We’ll be ready because) we have a little more speed to compete,” Bryans said.

The Spartans are on a high note right now because of the varsity eight boat’s bid, but Bryans said she is disappointed the crew as a whole didn’t receive a team bid.

In a field of 18 teams, the Big Ten qualified four squads, including MSU, Michigan, Iowa and Ohio State. Other qualifiers include Boston University, Brown, California-Berkeley, Harvard, Princeton, Washington, Ithaca, Rutgers, Southern California, Syracuse, Wesleyan (Conn.), Western Washington, Williams and Yale.