CAMDEN, N.J. — Wisconsin used its second-place finish in the varsity eight, its first medal in the event since 1990, to earn its fourth consecutive Ten Eyck Trophy on the final day of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta, June 1 on the Cooper River.
Top-ranked California lived up to its billing with its victory in the varsity eight. The Bears, with seven of its varsity eight members former Olympians, took the national title by just 1.51 seconds over the Badgers. Cal won in 5:36.81, while Wisconsin was second in 5:28.32 for its first medal since 1990. Third-place Washington, which was 2-0 this season against UW, including Friday?s semifinal, was timed in 5:30.25 for the 2000-meter course.
“We had a very poor start in the final,” said Badgers coach Chris Clark. “The varsity started last and ended up charging through the field. With 500 meters to go we were third and passed Washington. We were gaining rapidly on Cal, but we ran out of course before we could catch them, so it really worked out well. I wish that we would have won. These guys are an amazing group and this was a pretty amazing performance.”
Wisconsin’s varsity eight had been red hot over the last five weeks. UW took the Midwest Collegiate Championship in Madison April 27 before departing on an intense road trip to the East Coast. The Badgers swept a weekend in Boston, taking the Cochrane and Jablonic Cups before stunning a stacked Ivy League field at the Eastern Sprints May 19, earning a mention in the New York Times and climbing to No. 4 in the national rankings.
Wisconsin prepped for the nationals, winning the Walsh and Fisher Cups the week before the IRAs. In the preliminaries Friday, UW advanced to all six varsity grand finals in the national championship competition. As a team, the Badgers qualified nine boats.
The runner-up finish in the varsity eight helped Wisconsin win the Ten Eyck Trophy for the fourth-straight time. The school?s fifth trophy in the last six years and 14th overall came with a 323-point effort for the title. Princeton finished second in the overall standings with 316 points. Washington and Cornell tied for the third slot with 311 each. With the win, the Badgers became just the third team to win four consecutive trophies, awarded to the team with the most overall points at the IRA, in the 100-history of the regatta.
Wisconsin and Cornell were the only schools to do it previously.
The varsity four without coxswain was Wisconsin?s only individual racing title as the Badgers took first and second place in the event. The UW?s ?A? boat won in 6:09.22, while the UW ?B? boat finished shortly behind in second with a time of 6:10.54.
In addition to its second-place results in the varsity eight and varsity four without coxswain, the Badgers picked up a second-place finish in the varsity pair without coxswain. Cornell won the event in 6:53.52, but the Badgers? ?A? boat time of 6:54.36 was almost four seconds ahead of third-place LaSalle. Wisconsin?s ?B? boat finished fifth in 7:15.51.
Badger boats also raced in the championship finals of the second varsity eight, varsity four with coxswain and open four with coxswain and finished fourth, third and third, respectively. California, Cornell and Washington finished ahead of the UW in the second varsity eight, California and Cornell outstroked the Badgers in the varsity four with coxswain and Washington and California were the only two faster boats in the open four with coxswain.
Two freshman boats also competed, as the freshman four finished second in the petite final and eighth overall, while the freshman eight won its third level final to place 13th among the top novice boats in the nation.
— compiled from staff reports