WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – In the rowing world, nobody ever wants the story of the day to be the weather, but that was exactly what happened on championship Sunday at the 2018 Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships.
 
With races set for Mercer Lake and an unfavorable forecast, the schedule was reversed and grand finals went off early Sunday morning to make sure the headlining races got in.
 
For the lightweight women competing, they got the lightweight eight grand final in before racing was canceled for the day.
 
Fortunately for the rowers who worked all year for the national championships, Princeton stepped up and volunteered their home course on Lake Carnegie to continue the racing for both the lightweight men and women who hadn't competed. That set up what became known as the "Rogue" IRA to crown unofficial national champions for the women in the lightweight four and lightweight double sculls.
 
LIGHTWEIGHT EIGHT
In the lone lightweight women's race that took place during the official 2018 IRA National Championships, Stanford won the lightweight eight championship for the fourth consecutive year. The Cardinal clocked 7 minutes, 12.373 seconds over 2000 meters to win. The Badgers ended up in seventh place in a time of 7:41.210. Boston University (7:17.616) and Princeton (7:20.543) took second and third, respectively.
 
LIGHTWEIGHT FOUR
Finishing up nearly identical to Saturday's race for lanes, the grand final of the lightweight four at the "Rogue" IRA on Lake Carnegie saw the Badgers place second in 7:41.77, just shy of four seconds better than third-place Boston University (7:45.73). Stanford won the four in 7:26.10.
 
LIGHTWEIGHT DOUBLE SCULLS
Also competing in the "Rogue" IRA like the four, Wisconsin's double sculls entry ended up in third place, behind champion Princeton and Tulsa. The Tigers won in 7:52.14, with Tulsa second in 7:52.47 and the Badgers third in 8:07.57.
 
STRAIGHT FROM THE LAKE
Lightweight coach Dusty Mattison
On the Varsity Eight
"The varsity eight was disappointed with the result, especially going into the final having been right in the mix with the top five yesterday being four seconds apart. We were pretty optimistic in having a really good row today.

"We did not have the best start and had trouble recovering from it. I think that set the tone for the race. It definitely was not representative where we felt we were at during this point of the year.

"Definitely looking to this summer and next fall to start off where we were right before IRAs where we felt technically we made some good changes and had really made some strides with boat speed.

"Hopefully this summer can keep that in focus and come in strong this fall."

On the "Rogue" IRA
"The races for the four and double were canceled due to high winds. Princeton University graciously offered to host the four and the double events at Lake Carnegie. As lightweight coaches we decided that we would do it. We reconvened over there at 12:20 p.m. local time and raced the double first.

"It was pretty much the finishing results from yesterday in those events. That was nice to see that they were able to finish up with a race at the end of the season. That was the goal of going over to Lake Carnegie, to give them a race after all the training they put in this year. We wanted to give them a race to finish out the season."

2018 IRA National Championships
June 3
West Windsor, New Jersey
Mercer Lake
2000 meters

Lightweight Eight (Grand Final)
1. Stanford, 7:12.373; 2. Boston University, 7:17.616; 3. Princeton, 7:20.543; 4. Georgetown, 7:24.563; 5. Harvard-Radcliffe, 7:33.483; 6. MIT, 7:39.733; 7. Wisconsin, 7:41.210

UW Lineup – Coxswain Anika Chatterjee, Agathe Denis, Brianna Ohm, Grace D'Souza, Jennifer Whitehill, Grace Joyce, Brianna Wynne, Kathryne Ruffalo, Rachel Illgen

2018 "Rogue" IRA
June 3
Princeton, New Jersey
Lake Carnegie
2000 Meters

Lightweight Four (Grand Final)
1. Stanford, 7:26.10; 2. Wisconsin, 7:41.77; 3. Boston University, 7:45.73; 4. Georgetown, 7:52.21; 5. Princeton, 8:01.20; 6. Harvard-Radcliffe, 8:06.40

UW Lineup – Coxswain Rachel Yan, Mirha Girt, Claire Kelley, Payton James, Janet Titzler

Lightweight Double Sculls (Grand Final)
1. Princeton, 7:52.14; 2. Tulsa, 7:52.47; 3. Wisconsin, 8:07.57; 4. Stanford, 8:10.88; 5. Georgetown, 8:44.24

UW Lineup – Shannon Lipe, Marilyn Garberg