GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The No. 5 Wisconsin women's lightweight rowing program backed up Saturday's strong performance that showed marked improvement from its last time competing in early May by clinching third place as a team on Sunday at the 2019 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships. 
 
The lightweight eight, which entered the weekend ranked No. 5 in the nation, and a distant fifth based on results at Eastern Sprints a month ago, took fourth and closed the gap on much of the country during that layoff.

While Stanford won the lightweight eight title for the fifth consecutive time and the ninth time in 10 years, Wisconsin gained ground on the field, picking up about three seconds on second-place Princeton and nearly seven seconds on third-place Boston University in the month since Eastern Sprints.

The lightweight four reached the 2000-meter finish line in third place to gain key points in the team competition. Stanford again won the four, with Boston University second and the Badgers third.

In the most closely matched event of the day, the lightweight double also took home a bronze medal behind champion Boston University and Georgetown. While BU won comfortably in 7:51.794, Georgetown beat the Badgers by less than 0.7 seconds, while Princeton finished just over two seconds back of Wisconsin.

Stanford captured the team trophy with 68 points, four points better than BU, who beat out the Badgers by seven points. Wisconsin took third by one point over Princeton, with the difference proving to be the one-point spread in the lightweight double sculls race.
 
Straight from the Lake
Lightweight coach Dusty Mattison
"Today was a really exciting day for the lightweight program. Overall, it was an amazing team effort and it's showing that the program is going in a really positive direction with a team that is still young. On this trip. 75 percent of those competing were freshmen and sophomores and the rest of the team is all freshmen and sophomores. Having those underclassmen come out and race at such a high level is setting the stage for some competitive years to come.

"Coming out as third place in the team, we couldn't have asked for more. It was a huge team effort with everyone doing their part."

On the lightweight double
"They had a solid race. It was close for at least 3/4 of the race. They were neck-and-neck with Georgetown, Stanford and Princeton and were finally able to break away a bit. As a freshman and sophomore in the boat, they are going to one day come out on that other side."
  
On the lightweight four
"Started out with a pretty level field. They started to move away with BU and Stanford and separated from the rest of the pack. They had a good, solid race and were very happy with the outcome. Another young crew with two freshmen and three sophomores, and one of the freshmen a complete novice having first started rowing in September. Them being level headed and having executed a race like that, I'm so proud of them."

On the lightweight eight
"After 250 meters, it appeared Georgetown and Radcliffe were up a bit on us, two crews we were able to push away from in the race for lanes yesterday. We did a nice job of staying relaxed and sticking to our race plan. After that they were able to start methodically pushing away and put themselves solidly into that fourth place. They were really satisfied with the outcome. They put down great, gritty race and were able to hold of Georgetown in the last 250 meters in a race that was fun to watch.

"It was gritty, solid races from everyone and definitely gives them motivation going into next year."
 
2019 IRA National Championships
June 2, 2019
Lake Natoma
Gold River, California
2000 meters

Team Standings (Points)
1. Stanford, 68; 2. Boston University, 64; 3. Wisconsin, 57; 4. Princeton, 56; 5. Georgetown, 51; 6. Radcliffe, 46; 7. MIT, 36

Lightweight Eight
Grand Final
1. Stanford, 6:32.825 (36); 2. Princeton, 6:37.335 (33); 3. Boston University, 6:40.462 (30); 4. Wisconsin, 6:43.100 (27); 5. Georgetown, 6:44.263 (24); 6. Radcliffe, 6:48.508 (21); 7. MIT, 7:06.993 (18)
UW Lineup - Coxswain Eden Rane, Grace D'Souza, Rachel Illgen, Sophia Krivoruchko, Monica Rodriguez, Julia Johnson, Marilyn Garberg, Payton James, Brianna Ohm

Lightweight Four
Grand Final
1. Stanford, 7:12.848 (24); 2. Boston University, 7:19.504 (22); 3. Wisconsin, 7:25.798 (20); 4. Radcliffe, 7:32.598 (18); 5. Georgetown, 7:36.553 (16); 6. Princeton, 7:45.843 (14); 7. MIT, 7:57.789 (12)
UW Lineup - Coxswain Mya Lebakken, Tori Kost, Ellen Pflaster, Kate Concannon, Delaney Toepel

Lightweight Double Sculls
Grand Final
1. Boston University, 7:51.794 (12); 2. Georgetown, 7:55.439 (11); 3. Wisconsin, 7:56.169 (10); 4. Princeton, 7:58.281 (9); 5. Stanford, 8:00.499 (8); 6. Radcliffe, 8:17.374 (7); 7. MIT, 8:30.386 (6)
UW Lineup - Lindsey Jiron, Sarah Stacks