Worcester, Mass. – Three-time winners of the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Championships, the 12th-ranked Wisconsin men's rowing team returned to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts, in search of their first title since the 2007-08 season. Although the Badgers will have to wait until next year to recapture the title, they continued to make major strides as they have all year.

The freshman squad, who entered as the fifth varsity eight crew, led the way by taking second overall with a time of 6:01.242, less than a second behind Navy who finished with a time of 6:00.479.

The fifth varsity eight grand final was rounded out by Boston University (6:06.292), Cornell (6:07.491), Harvard (6:12.306) Princeton (6:16.983) and Navy 6V (6:19.957).

Wisconsin's second varsity eight crew, who entered as the seventh seed, placed second in their heat with a time of 5:57.150 to advance to the Grand Final. There, they placed sixth with a time of 6:00.774.

UW's third varsity eight crew also took sixth in their respective Grand Final with a time of 6:03.200. They advanced to the Grand Final by placing second in their heat with at time of 6:07.988.
"I felt our second and third varsity both took steps forward and made the Grand Final, something neither have done in at least three years I think and both ended up getting in and getting sixth," said head coach Chris Clark. "They both had a really good race to get there and we really haven't even had that in this regatta for a while so that was excellent."

Wisconsin's fourth varsity eight boat placed fourth in their heat with a time of 6:05.163, advancing to the Petite Final in which they won with a time of 6:03.711, placing seventh overall.

After placing fourth in their heat with a time of 5:57.196, the varsity eight squad rounded out the championship for the Badgers with a 12-place finish, taking sixth in the petite final with a time of 5:50.836.

"Certainly a disappointment for the first eight," stated Clark. "They ended up finishing fourth in their heat and needed to be in the top two to advance to the Grand Final. They were actually doing quite well in the Petite Final but then they just fell off the pace and ended up getting 12th."

Top-ranked Yale took home the title with a time of 5:37.494.

"Baby steps and improvements. Small steps but better than last year," added Clark. "We've certainly got the individuals we just have to row as a unit and execute when we have to execute. But I'm really looking forward to this period coming up of just pure eating, sleeping and rowing for two weeks before we head back east."

The Badgers will round out their 2016 season with the IRA National Championships which will begin Friday, June 3, and continue through Sunday, June 5, in West Windsor, New Jersey.

2016 Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Championships
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Lake Quinsigamond
Worcester, Mass.
2000 meters

Rowe Cup Team Standings
1. Princeton, 37 points; 2. Harvard, 35; 3. Brown, 31; 4. Yale, 30; 5. Boston University, 27; 6. Cornell, 24; 7. Wisconsin, 16; 8. Northeastern, 13; 9. Dartmouth, 12; 10. Syracuse, 10; 11. Pennsylvania, 7; 12. Columbia, 6; 13. Navy, 4; 14. George Washington, 4; 15. Rutgers, MIT, Georgetown, Holy Cross, 0

Varsity Eight
Heat three
1. Harvard, 5:44.272; 2. Brown 5:45.133; 3. Dartmouth, 5:54.506; 4. Wisconsin 5:57.196; 5. MIT, 6:02.685; 6. Georgetown, 6:04.423

Petite Final (places 7-12)
1. Northeastern, 5:43.192; 2. Columbia, 5:45.603; 3. Pennsylvania, 5:47.155; 4. Syracuse, 5:47.998; 5. Dartmouth, 5:49.710; 6. Wisconsin, 5:50.836

Varsity eight lineup: James Roen (cox), James Lueken, Tristan Amberger, Sam Weeks, George Perrett, Jonah Van der Weide, Andrew Griffin, Laing Wise, Patrick Muto

Second Varsity Eight
Heat one
1. Harvard, 5:55.495; 2. Wisconsin 5:57.150; 3. Cornell, 5:57.622; 4. Navy, 6:03.060; 5. Colombia, 6:04.441; 6. Rutgers, 6:38.433

Grand Final (places 1-6)
1. Harvard, 5:48.686; 2. Princeton, 5:48.939; 3. Boston University, 5:53.015; 4. Brown, 5:53.387; 5. Yale, 5:53.687; 6. Wisconsin, 6:00.774

Second varsity eight lineup: Ben Flaherty (cox), Nickolas Montalvo, Jacob Hurlbutt, James Letten, James Bernard, Michael Knippen, Christoph Bub, Peter Ginouves, Michael Spankowski

Third Varsity Eight
Heat one
1. Princeton, 6:03.874; 2. Wisconsin, 6:07.988; 3. Yale, 6:10.112; 4. Pennsylvania, 6:24.551, 5. Georgetown, 6:36.428

Grand Final (places 1-6)
1. Princeton, 5:53.520; 2. Harvard, 5:54.622; 3. Brown, 5:56.580, 4. Cornell, 5:56.813, 5. Boston University, 6:02.246; 6. Wisconsin, 6:03.200

Third varsity eight lineup: Michael Callahan (cox), John Hollow, David McClain, John Goodman, Alex Idarraga, Erik Kernozek, Andrew Flannery, Theodore Boesen, Mark Nitka

Fourth Varsity Eight
Heat one
1. Princeton, 6:00.879; 2. Harvard, 6:02.185; 3. Cornell, 6:04.376; 4. Wisconsin, 6:05.163; 5. Dartmouth, 6:16.500

Petite Final (places 7-10)
1. Wisconsin, 6:03.711; 2. Navy, 6:04.030; 3. Dartmouth, 6:11.086; 4. Yale, 6:16.134

Fourth varsity eight lineup: Andrew Hamilton (cox), Steve Knopp, Alexander Butler, Graham Mink, Zach Ruedinger, John French, Timothy Glennon, Henry Bourgeois, Thomas Walker

Fifth Varsity Eight (places 1-7)
Grand Final
1. Navy 5V, 6:00.479; 2. Wisconsin, 6:01.242; 3. Boston University, 6:06.292; 4. Cornell; 6:07.491, 5. Harvard, 6:12.306; 6. Princeton, 6:16.983; 7. Navy 6V, 6:19.957

Fifth varsity eight lineup: Arthur Condor (cox), Cole Reavill, Dylan Adams, Kyle McCarthy, Nathan Petersen, Taylor Steeno, Tim Zogleman, Benjamin Waller, Tyler Stevens