Lightweight Double Three-Peats IRA Gold, Terriers Place Second Overall

Sunday, May 31

Gold River, CA / Lake Natoma

8 AM

Boston University

IRA Championship

Photo of the BU Lightweight Rowing Double racing at the IRA National Championship Regatta.

Photo by: Boston University Athletics

Lightweight Double Three-Peats IRA Gold, Terriers Place Second Overall

May 31, 2026 | Women's Lightweight Rowing

Results

GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The Boston University lightweight rowing program placed second overall for the first time in three seasons thanks to medals from the Lightweight Double and 4+ at the 2026 IRA National Championship Regatta on Sunday (May 31) at Lake Natoma.

Catherine Clark and Emilia Vukasinovic guided the 2x to BU's third consecutive gold medal at the regatta and sixth in program history. Clark registered her second straight national title in the Double.

BU's Lightweight 4+, featuring Cece Mason, Sam Angel, Mia Seibert, Kiana Banta and Lylah Nag, earned silver for the Terriers, improving the boat's position by two spots from last year's IRA National Championship. BU's 4+ has finished as the runner-up twice in the last three campaigns.

Following the fourth-place result in the Lightweight 8+, BU placed second overall at the IRA National Championship with 61 team points. The Terriers earned second for the first time since 2023 and third time in the last five IRA iterations.

Pristine conditions greeted rowers in the morning with glass water, clear skies and very little wind. Temperatures gradually moved throughout the 70s as the morning waned.

BU's Lightweight Double, with Catherine Clark in the stroke seat and Emilia Vukasinovic in the bow seat, took an early as it and Harvard-Radcliffe out of Lane 2 jumped out in front of the pack. Though Radcliffe stayed within a length of the Terriers, BU gradually pulled away to capture an open water victory in 7:36.678, 7.16 seconds in front of runner-up Wisconsin.

The Terrier Lightweight 4+, coxed by Lylah Nag and stroked by Cece Mason, went to task with Princeton, who roared off the starting line in front. BU was two seats behind for most of the first half of the race and was still under one length behind past the midpoint. The Tigers pulled away in the final sprint, but BU's own push led to a silver medal performance in 7:25.473, over six seconds ahead of third-place MIT.

Sunday concluded with the Lightweight 8+, coxed by Mira Saldanha and stroked by Rosa Beckert, in Lane 3 of the Grand Final. Princeton and Radcliffe emerged early for the lead while the Terriers engaged in a battle with Stanford. The Cardinal were about four seats in front as the Terriers overtook Georgetown before the midpoint. BU maintained the distance within Stanford but were ultimately fourth in a time of 6:49.192 after having the fastest final sprint in the field.

RESULTS (MAY 31)
Lightweight Double
Grand Final

BU – 7:36.678
Wisconsin – 7:43.838
Radcliffe – 7:49.867
MIT – 7:50.662
Stanford – 7:50.805
Princeton – 7:51.107

Lightweight 4+
Grand Final