June 18, 2008

Washington, D.C. - This past weekend, Georgetown Men's Crew took part in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta at Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey. The Lightweight Eight placing fifth nationally and was the only Georgetown crew to reach a Grand Final. The lightweights held their own against the likes of Cornell, Navy, Yale and Princeton while finishing with a time of 05:45.827.

"The lightweights raced very well today and were able to best some of the crews that had nosed them out at Eastern Sprints," Head Coach Tony Johnson said. "For example, Columbia finished ahead of them at Eastern Sprints and Syracuse and MIT finished ahead of our heavyweights. However, here at Eastern Sprints, we out-raced them and turned in solid performances."

Three other Blue and Gray boats reached petite finals with the Varsity Pair finishing eighth, the Men's Four (without coxswain) finished 10th and the Open Four ended the day in 11th. The Varsity Pair finished second to Loyola Marymount in their final, crossing the finish with a time of 07:14.24. The Men's Four (without coxswain) ended the session in 10th place, finishing fourth in their petite final with a time of 06:43.81 and the Open Four finished in 11th, fifth overall in their final, with a time of 07:03.39.

"Over three days of multiple regatta races we had some very strong performances," Johnson said. "Our small boats performed well, but overall I'd say there was some disappointment due to the fact that our kids felt they could place even higher than they did."