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End of the Season and ACRA Recap

Dave Specca

Rutgers men finished the season well at the American College Rowing Association National Championship in Oak Ridge, TN. Over 80 colleges were represented at the 3 day regatta.

A strong field of thirty one schools entered the main event, the Varsity 8. The 5th ranked Rutgers 8 finished 7th in the time trial to qualify directly to the championship semi-finals while places 9 - 31 raced in the repecharge round for a 2nd chance. Rutgers finished 3rd in their semi-final the next day to earn a spot in the Grand Final for the 2nd year in a row.

The Grand Final was very close, with Notre Dame winning, followed by Virginia, UCLA, Orange Coast, Rutgers, and Purdue in that order. All boats were well under 6 minutes with the winner finishing in 5:47, a very fast final considering the moderate cross/quartering headwind.

In the 2nd Varsity 8 event, Rutgers finished 3rd in their opening heat, 1 second from qualifying directly to the semi-final. In a tremendous race and tough draw in the repecharge round, Rutgers finished 1 second behind the winning crew, but that put them in 4th place as the top 4 crews finished within a deck. The finish relegated Rutgers to the 3rd level final, where they completely dominated the 7 boat field, opening water in the first 500 meters and going on to win by 13 seconds. Virginia won the Grand Final. Rutgers 3rd Varsity 8 rowed in their 7 boat Grand Final, finishing 5th in the race won by Bucknell.

Congratulations to the Rutgers Crew.

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