Two Gu Teams Wind Up Fourth In Rowing Classic

Collegiate rowing

Two Gonzaga University crews finished fourth Saturday at the National Intercollegiate Rowing Championships, where Princeton edged Washington in the Varsity Eight Grand Final to win its second national title in three years.

Gonzaga took fourth place behind Minnesota in the Men’s Varsity Fours final on the Cooper River.

Minnesota finished in 6 minutes, 35.3 seconds. GU was timed in 6:41.3. The Bulldogs also placed fourth, with a 7:09.4 clocking, in the Men’s Freshman Fours, won by Wisconsin in 6:33.3.

Princeton won the Ten Eyck Trophy, given to the team with the most overall points in the men’s events, defeating defending champion Wisconsin.

Wisconsin won the overall women’s point title - the Camden County Freeholders Trophy - as well as the Robert Mulcahy III Trophy, awarded to the overall men’s and women’s point winner.

The final race, the men’s varsity eights, came down to the final few meters before the Tigers pulled it out over the field that included California, Penn, Northeastern and Georgetown.

Princeton and Washington, which won the race last year, were neck-and-neck from the start.

Princeton also won the Second Varsity Eight over Wisconsin and Penn, the Lightweight Eight over Columbia and Harvard.

On the women’s side, Wisconsin edged Rutgers in the Varsity Eight; Villanova won the IRA Women’s Lightweight Eight with a one-seat victory over Radcliffe; Wisconsin won the Second Varsity and Varsity Eights; and Cornell took the Novice Eight.