May 13, 2012

EARC Eastern Sprints Quinsigamond State Park • Worcester, Mass. Distance: 2 Kilometers

Varsity Eight: Heat 3, Grand Final 1. Wisconsin 5:59.641 2. Navy 6:00.251 3. Boston University 6:00.519 4. Yale 6:04.744 5. George Washington 6:17.304 6. Holy Cross 6:28.747 ------ 1. Brown 5:49.608 2. Harvard 5:49.910 3. Wisconsin 5:59.685 4. Princeton 6:02.096 5. Navy 6:03.677 6. Syracuse 6:03.918  Second Varsity Eight: Heat 2, Grand Final 1. Wisconsin 5:58.227 2. Navy 6:04.259 3. Yale 6:07.789 4. Penn 6:11.215 5. George Washington 6:26.005 ------ 1. Wisconsin 5:57.211 2. Harvard 5:57.854 3. Princeton 6:00.201 4. Brown 6:00.762 5. Navy 6:06.206 6. Cornell 6:08.386  Third Varsity Eight: Heat 2, Grand Final 1. Harvard 5:57.945 2. Wisconsin 5:59.244 3. Princeton 6:08.248 4. Boston University 6:08.425 ------ 1. Brown 6:11.100 2. Wisconsin 6:14.721 3. Harvard 6:14.856 4. Navy 6:23.831 5. Princeton 6:23.864 6. Cornell 6:32.533  Novice Eight: Heat 2, Petite Final 1. Cornell 5:53.849 2. Navy 5:56.894 3. Wisconsin 5:57.435 4. Syracuse 6:02.001 5. Georgetown 6:10.728 6. Rutgers 6:28.029 ------ 1. Boston University 6:12.861 2. Wisconsin 6:13.245 3. Dartmouth 6:17.299 4. Yale 6:18.463 5. Syracuse 6:21.862 6. Columbia 6:26.495  Second Novice Eight: Grand Final 1. Wisconsin 6:36.357 2. Navy 6:36.599 3. Harvard 6:47.721 4. Cornell 6:51.244 5. Penn 7:12.973  Wisconsin Men's Rowing Online • @BadgerRowing on Twitter • Wisconsin Men's Rowing on Facebook • U.S. Cellular Text Alerts  |  Mobile UW App • InsideBadgerSports.com

MADISON, Wis. -- On a day full of close races, the No. 6 Wisconsin men's rowing team won two events en route to a third-place team finish at the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) championships Sunday in Worcester, Mass.

Wisconsin's second varsity eight and second freshman eight both won their races, while the varsity eight finished third. Combined with a second-place finish by the third varsity eight and a second-place finish in the petite final by the first freshman eight, the Badgers amassed 30 points to finish third in the Rowe Cup.

No. 2 Harvard won the Rowe Cup with 37 team points, while No. 3 Brown finished second with 34 points. The Badgers beat No. 10 Princeton and No. 5 Navy, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the first varsity eight, the Badgers finished with a close win in their heat, edging out Navy and No. 13 Boston University by less than a second. In the grand final Wisconsin finished third, 10 seconds behind Brown and Harvard, who finished just .3 seconds apart. UW finished with nearly identical times, winning its heat in 5:59.641, while crossing the line in 5:59.685 in the final.

“We had a brilliant race to get into the finals, head coach Chris Clark said. “In the finals Harvard and Brown really proved how good they are and really dominated.”

Wisconsin's second varsity eight was one-of-two UW boats to win a conference championship. The Badgers won their heat in 5:58.227, over six seconds faster than second-place Navy. Advancing to the grand final, UW won a close race with Harvard, crossing the finish line in 5:57.211, .6 seconds ahead of the Crimson. The tight race saw the top-four crews finish within four seconds of each other.

The third varsity eight raced for a fourth-straight championship win. Wisconsin finished second in the heat, finishing in 5:59.244, 1.3 seconds behind Harvard. In the final, the Badgers fell behind Brown by 4.6 seconds, finishing second in 6:14.721.

In the first freshman eight, Wisconsin finished third in its heat in 5:57.435, less than a second behind second-place Navy. The Badgers advanced to the petite final, where they finished second to Boston University by just .4 seconds, finishing in 6:13.245.

The second freshman eight brought home Wisconsin's second championship race win. Racing only in a grand final, the Badgers edged Navy for a .24 second win, finishing in 6:36.357.

“We raced very conservatively,” Clark said. “It was an uncharacteristic race, exactly opposite of every other race this year.”