REPLAYS:  SATURDAY    |  SUNDAY – FIRST HALF   |  SECOND HALF  

RESULTS  |  IRA CHAMPIONSHIPS INFORMATION

GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The second-ranked Wisconsin women's lightweight rowing team wrapped up the 2017 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships on Sunday with a pair of silver medals at Lake Natoma.

The Badgers comfortably won their medals with second-place finishes in the lightweight four and lightweight double sculls events. UW claimed fourth in the lightweight eight.

"Today was a good day," lightweight coach Dusty Mattison said. "We pretty much repeated our results from last year.

"Overall, the feeling for the team was probably disappointed with the results, but the execution of the races were really solid and they were proud of what they did today.

"What really stood out, without being prompted, the consensus was that we have to take it to another level."

LIGHTWEIGHT EIGHT
In the lightweight eight, No. 1 Stanford showed why it was the favorite entering the weekend by grabbing a commanding lead by the 500-meter mark.

At that point, Boston University was the closest crew to the Cardinal, with the Badgers fourth behind Princeton, but ahead of Radcliffe.

That is the way the race stayed through most of the middle 1000, until it appeared Radcliffe made a move past Wisconsin into fourth.

However, the Badgers recovered and beat out Radcliffe by inches at the line.

Stanford won the lightweight eight national title in 6 minutes, 25.396 seconds over 2000 meters, while Boston University took second in 6:30.608. Princeton finished out the podium in third with a time of 6:32.890.

Wisconsin clocked a 6:36.444 to beat out Radcliffe (6:36.671) by just over two-tenths of a second.

"I knew it was going to be a hard race in the varsity eight," Mattison stated. "There were a lot of crews packed in tightly. Stanford, we knew, was going to be the front runner. They got away very fast.

"We had a solid start. BU got away from us, as well as Princeton. Radcliffe, we were fighting all the way down, which is what is different from last year. Last year we got the same result, be we were much more in the fight this year.

"Now we need to keep working on closing the gap."

LIGHTWEIGHT FOUR
In the lightweight four, it was a three-way race at 500 meters, with Wisconsin, Stanford and Boston University battling it out.

Stanford pushed from there and took a four-seat lead over the Badgers by 1000 meters.

The Cardinal took off and moved up to three-quarters of a length, then open water, to move away from the field for the title.

The Badgers did the same to the rest of the field to take second place and the silver medal.

Wisconsin timed 7:27.638, while Stanford crossed the line in 7:20.916. BU was third in 7:32.735.

"The four was a bit disappointed because if anything, that is probably the race that each year we have an expectation to win," Mattison said. "We have a recent history of winning it.

"They really had a nice, hard race. They never let up all the way down. They gave the boats around them a good, hard race."

LIGHTWEIGHT DOUBLE SCULLS
The Badgers got a great start in the lightweight double sculls, leading Stanford, BU and Radcliffe off the line.

While Stanford gained a three-quarter length lead by 500 meters, the Badgers were up a length on third-place BU by that same point.

By 1000 meters, the top three spots were already decided, with Stanford holding a three-length lead and the Badgers up a length on BU.

The Terriers pushed the Badgers with about 600 meters to go and appeared to gain some overlap over Wisconsin, but the Badgers put second place away with a sprint over the final 500 meters to take second by about two lengths of open water over BU.

Stanford crossed the line to win in 7:34.700, with Wisconsin second in 7:45.259 and BU third in 7:50.503; Princeton (7:55.756), Radcliffe (8:02.664) and MIT (8:35.497) rounded out the Grand Final field.

"The double did a great job," Mattison remarked. "They had a really solid race all the way down the course. They were even able to close the distance between them and Stanford over the last 300 meters. I know they are really excited, as they should be."

TEAM STANDINGS
The Badgers finished with 60 points as a team to place third overall. Stanford, which swept all three boat races, won the team title with 72 points. Boston University, on the strength of its second-place result in the lightweight eight, took second with 63 points.

"It is pretty apparent if we want to be competitive in the medals at IRAs, we have to work really hard this summer," Mattison concluded. "They have to be accountable to themselves and each other to do the training. It is going to take a lot of really hard work next year to be in that medals group in the lightweight eight.

"All around, we are a little dissatisfied with how we finished in terms of the results, but overall it was just a really great season. We learned a ton as a team and know what we have to do to be contenders next year. I really think we have a good, solid group who is willing to put in the work this summer and push all year long."

2017 IRA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Gold River, Calif.
Lake Natoma
June 4, 2017
2000 meters

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Stanford, 72 points; 2. Boston University, 63; 3. WISCONSIN, 60; 4. Princeton, 53; 5. Radcliffe, 48; 6. MIT, 43; 7. Tulsa, 27; 8. Georgetown, 21

LIGHTWEIGHT EIGHT
Grand Final
1. Stanford, 6:25.396; 2. Boston University, 6:30.608; 3. Princeton, 6:32.890; 4. Wisconsin, 6:36.444; 5. Radcliffe, 6:36.671; 6. Georgetown, 6:42.203

UW Lineup – Coxswain Audrey Dalgarno, Brianna Wynne, Agathe Denis, Grace Joyce, Mirha Girt, Kathryne Ruffalo, Janet Titzler, Alexandra Fochios, Marilyn Garberg

LIGHTWEIGHT FOUR
Grand Final
1. Stanford, 7:20.916; 2. Wisconsin, 7:27.638; 3. Boston University, 7:32.735; 4. MIT, 7:41.010; 5. Radcliffe, 7:45.419; 6. Princeton, 7:47.160; 7. Tulsa, 7:54.741

UW Lineup - Coxswain Eleanor Martin, Claire Kelley, Brianna Ohm, Ariel Tallo, Payton James

LIGHTWEIGHT DOUBLE SCULLS
Grand Final
1. Stanford, 7:34.700; 2. Wisconsin, 7:45.259; 3. Boston University, 7:50.503; 4. Princeton, 7:55.756; 5. Radcliffe, 8:02.664; 6. MIT, 8:35.497

UW Lineup – Shannon Lipe, Anna Leach