Coach Bohrer | RESULTS| Kep Edwards | Photo Gallery

West Windsor, N.J. - Highlighted by a historic bronze medal performance by the second varsity eight boat, the Boston University men's rowing team finished seventh overall in team points at the IRA National Championship Regatta on Sunday.

Led by a third-place finish in the second varsity eight grand final and a second-place finish in the varsity eight petite final, BU tallied 139 Ten Eyck points to place seventh out of a field of 24 in IRA team competition.

In their biggest race on Sunday, the Terriers' 2V boat competed in the second varsity eight grand finals. BU took on Cal, Washington, Princeton, Yale and Brown - a virtual who's who of college rowing programs and the Terriers didn't blink.

After a close start with no real leader over the first 200 meters, Washington, Princeton and Cal began to take the top three spots at the 500 meter mark with all boats within 3 seats. BU closed on third-place California over the second 500 meters and passed the Golden Bears at the 1,000 meter mark and didn't look back. The 2V, coxed by freshman MacKenzie Hart and stroked by classmate Max Ponsen, opened up a comfortable lead over Cal and cruised to a third-place finish. BU finished with a time of 5:38.32, ahead of Cal (5:42.33), Yale (5:45.02) and Brown (5:49.03). Washington won the gold with a time of 5:33.64 and Princeton took silver (5:34.66).

The IRA bronze medal was the first ever for a 2V, or any eight boat, in program history.

"Its exciting and we are really happy for the second varsity," said men's head rowing coach Thomas Bohrer. "They really stepped up and had a great performance."

BU's third varsity eight boat started Sunday off right for the Terriers, winning the 3V8 petite final to finish seventh overall in the regatta. BU's 3V, coxed by freshman Justin Goucher and stroked by freshman TJ Ruijgh, jumped out to an early lead, just ahead of second-place Northeastern and extended it throughout the race. After the Huskies fell back to fourth, the Terriers pulled away from Wisconsin and Cornell over the second 1,000m to win easily. BU finshed with a time of 5:48.64, ahead of the second-place Badgers (5:51.85) and third-place Cornell (5:52.48). Northeastern (5:52.74), Navy (5:55.43) and Dartmouth (6:01.77) were fourth, fifth and sixth.

In the varsity eight petite final, Eastern Sprints champion Yale jumped out to an early lead with Navy and BU chasing. The 1V, coxed by senior Lauren Harvey and stroked by sophomore Aleksandar Marinkovski, passed Navy at the 1,000 meter mark and settled into second. The Terriers held off a late charge by Navy to finish second with a time of 5:39.55, behind winner Yale (5:37.88) and ahead of the third-place Mids(5:39.99). With the second place finish in the petite final, the Terriers finished the year at No. 8.

"We finished up the day on a good note," added Bohrer. "Even though we were in the petite final for the 1V and the 3V, the 3V won its final and the 1V had one of its best races of the year, finishing just behind a strong Yale boat. I really feel like we came off the water as a strong program with everyone having their best performance in their last race."

In the last race of the regatta, the BU V4, Coxed by sophomore Carly Skehan and stroked by freshman Tate Gill, finished fifth in the V4 petite final with a time of 6:34.52.

On Friday, the Terriers advanced all four boats directly to the semifinals by finishing first or second in all of their heat races to avoid the repechage. In the semis on Saturday, BU's varsity two boat took third to advance to the grand finals, while BU's varsity eight boat and third varsity eight both finished fourth in their semifinals races and moved on to Sunday's petite finals.

Day 1 Recap

Day 2 Recap

FULL RESULTS

Team Championship Points - Ten Eyck Award

1. Washington - 198
2. California - 181
3. Princeton - 173
4. Brown - 159
5. Harvard -157
6. Yale - 141
7. Boston University - 139
8. Northeastern - 122
9. Cornell - 120
10. Penn - 115
11. Navy - 98
12. Dartmouth - 90
13. Wisconsin - 86
14. Columbia - 53
15. Drexel -- 39

LINEUPS

1v

Cox - Lauren Harvey, 8 - Aleksandar Marinkovski, 7 Fionnan McQuillan-Tolan, 6 - Matt Maginnis, 5 - Luka Miladinovic, 4 - Mackenzie Copp, 3 -- JP Aftring, 2 - Oliver Salonna, 1 - Vass Ragoussis

2v

Cox - MacKenzie Hart, 8 - Max Ponsen, 7 - Uros Marinkovic, 6 -- Kep Edwards, 5 - John Carter, 4 - Spencer Haas, 3 - Mike Kapp, 2 - Tomas Weaver, 1 - Alex Dillon

3v

Cox - Justin Goucher, 8 - TJ Ruijgh, 7 - Dan Marconi, 6 - Gregor Dierks, 5 - Will Aftring, 4 - Jacob Barker, 3 -- Austin Bald, 2 -- Drew Miller, 1 - Jamie Odgers

V4+

Cox - Carly Skehan, 4 - Tate Gill, 3 - Dan Relle, 2 - Nolan Solis, 1 - Cam Pizzo