The 2019 lightweight rowing team won the Boston University Team of the Decade Bracket, defeating 2014-15 men's ice hockey in the championship matchup on Thursday and Friday.
 
Voting for each matchup took place on @BUAthletics Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the combined vote determining which team advanced. More than 8,200 votes were cast in this week's championship round alone. 
 
The 2019 lightweights were a national powerhouse with many impressive accomplishments. The team finished as IRA National Champion Runner-Up for the fourth-consecutive year while freshman Catharine Griskowitz and classmate Grace Beery won gold and the IRA National Championship title in the double skull. As a team the Terriers won gold (double skull), silver (varsity four) and bronze (varsity eight) at IRAs and were the only program to medal in all three events. 

The Terriers' V8 boat entered the season ranked No. 3 in the USRowing coaches poll and lived up to their high ranking with several big victories during an exciting spring season. At Eastern Sprints, the lightweights won five of six races on the day and finished with 45 team points to capture the Ulbrich Trophy as Lightweight Team Champions for the second time in program history, ahead of runner-up Princeton and third-place Harvard. 
 
Later in the season, the lighweights competed against openweight boats at the Dad Vail Regatta and won gold in the V8, V4 and 2x competition. The V8 boat set a course record in the grand final with a time of 6:13.67 and took home the Evelyn Bergman Trophy as the Dad Vail women's varsity eight champions for the second-consecutive year. 

The team also won the Lightweight Beanpot trophy over rivals Harvard and MIT for the fourth-consecutive year. 
 
After the season, senior Janice Hagerman and freshman Haleigh Prindle earned Lightweight All-American honors from the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association. Hagerman became the first-ever BU student-athlete to be selected as an All-American in four consecutive years.

The BU lightweight rowing team first competed in 2013-14 and quickly climbed the ranks among DI lightweight rowing programs. The team's varsity 8 boat won bronze at the 2015 IRAs in just its second season of competition. In May of 2018, the BU V8 boat was ranked No. 1 in the USRowing Collegiate Coaches poll for the first time in program history.

During the Team of the Decade contest, the 2019 lightweights defeated teams from women's cross country (2019), women's ice hockey (2010-11), field hockey (2014), men's basketball (2019-20) and men's ice hockey (2014-15) on their way to the title.