Bucknell University
IRA National Championships (Varsity Lightweight Eight)
Bucknell Lightweight Eight Wins IRA National Championship
6/2/2007 8:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
June 2, 2007
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (Cooper River) - Capping the most successful season in program history, the Bucknell women's rowing varsity lightweight eight won the Grand Final at the IRA National Championship Regatta Saturday afternoon on the Cooper River. The Bison, who became just the fifth different team to win the event, defeated Princeton's varsity lightweight eight by nearly 3.5 seconds, finishing in 6 minutes, 36.096 seconds.
Bucknell, which bettered its time from Friday's heat by more than 4.5 seconds, posted its best-ever showing at the IRA Championships. Last year's sixth-place finish in the Grand Final was its previous best.
"Hats off to these women," commented Bucknell head coach Stephen Kish. "In addition to being very impressive young ladies, they are exemplary representatives of the overall program at Bucknell. The women on our team make coaching very enjoyable."
Bucknell and Princeton finished one-two in Friday's heat to earn an automatic berth into the Grand Final. They were joined by Wisconsin and Radcliffe, which were on-two in Friday's other heat, as well as Stanford and Georgetown, which won Friday afternoon's two Repechages, to form a formidable six-boat final.
Princeton's time of 6:39.543 placed it second, while Wisconsin, which won the event each of the last three years, was third at 6:40.500. Radcliffe (6:43.405), Stanford (6:44.088) and Georgetown (6:47.503) rounded out the field.
The Bison boat consisted of Jeweliet Yost (coxswain), Lauren Olsen (stroke), Laura Roberts (7), Kim Weaver (6), Whittney Henry (5), Jessica Glenn (4), Devon Mitchell (3), Gillian Carter (2) and Meredith Henry (bow).
For complete results of the IRA National Championship Regatta visit: http://row2k.com/ira/
The victory helped the Bison wrap up a highly successful 2007 campaign. They won the team titles at both the Patriot League Championship and ECAC Metro Championship, and also won the overall points trophy at the Murphy Cup this past spring.
Varsity Lightweight Eight Grand Final
1. Bucknell - 6:36.096
2. Princeton - 6:39.543
3. Wisconsin - 6:40.500
4. Radcliffe - 6:43.405
5. Stanford - 6:44.088
6. Georgetown - 6:47.503
