Dave Specca

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The Varsity 8 traveled to Oak Ridge Tennesee for the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) National Championship. Crews from around the country attend this race as an alternative to the IRA for Club Programs. Rutgers sent the Varsity 8 to compete for the first time ever at ACRA and they were seeded 9th going into the regatta.

On Friday Rutgers had a tough heat with number 1 seeded George Washington next to them. With a surprisingly quick start from Bowdoin College (Maine) Rutgers found themselves in 3rd with 1000 meters to go in the heats. Luckily the Varsity is a second half crew and was able to come back into 2nd place with 300m to go and stay there through the finish line. Placing 2nd advanced them directly to the Saturday A/B Semi-Finals. After a long rest period Rutgers came back on Saturday in the Semi-final to place 4th in the semi, which sent them to the B Final. In the Final there were many familiar faces from crews like Delaware and Bucknell, who the varsity had beaten earlier in the season and Bowdoin and Virginia, who they had beaten earlier in the regatta. Again 1000 meter into the race Rutgers was sitting in 4th and had a lot of ground to make up on Bucknell, Virginia and Bowdoin. The Scarlet Knights dug deep and were able to pull ahead of all other crews except Virginia who had an excellent sprint to keep their bow ahead of the Rutgers boat.

All crews had a great season and are looking forward to Summer racing for some and an even more successful 2023 season.

UPSTREAM RED TEAM.