WEST WINDSOR, N.J. — The No. 6 Wisconsin men's rowing team finished its season on Saturday morning, competing in the final races of the 2021 IRA National Championships on Mercer Lake. All four Badger boats competed in the petite finals in their respective categories. 

Choppy and windy conditions on the lake made the lane placements very important during the race. The first varsity eight recorded a time of 6:21.003, the fastest of the day for Wisconsin, giving them a fifth-place finish in the petit final and 11th place out of 30 varsity eight boats. They were less then two seconds behind Navy's fourth-place finish.

The second varsity eight also recorded a fifth-place finish, ending their season with a time of 6:51.073. Overall, they placed 11th out of 26 second varsity eight boats. 

The third varsity eight had the best finish for the Badgers, placing first in their final with a time of 6:33.973 for seventh place. The varsity four placed third in their final, recording a time of 7:13.951. They finished less than a second behind second place Navy. Overall, they finished 10th out of all varsity four boats. 

As a team, the Badgers ranked 8th in team points, their best in a number of years.

Straight from the Lake
Head Coach Chris Clark

"Overall, I thought it was a pretty good performance. We certainly went as fast as we were capable of this year. There is no comparison to the competitors and the experience they have on their team, but I think the boys handled it well. We missed the mark a bit on the timed trials, should've gone harder, and yesterday went after it but it was rough. They just haven't rowed nearly as many strokes as anyone else. 

"I'm really excited about next year and everyone is sick and tired of being in the B final. We've sat around this same area for the past six to seven years. I thought the boys raced as well as they could. We averaged around 10th place which is pretty good for the year we've had. We need to take the next jump to put us in contention for the A finals."

IRA National Championships 
May 29, 2021 
West Windsor, New Jersey
Mercer Lake
2,000 meters

Ten Eyck Trophy (Team Points Trophy)
1. Washington, 360; 2. California, 344; 3. Dartmouth, 340; 4. Northeastern, 314; 5. Brown, 277; 6. Navy, 267; 7. George Washington, 257; 8. Wisconsin, 252; 9. Syracuse, 239; 10. Drexel, 216; 11. Princeton, 215, 215; 12. Temple, 211; 13. Oregon State, 190; 14. Holy Cross, 167; 15. Cornell, 166; 16. Hobart, 162; 17. St. Josephs, 147; 18. Marist, 143; 19. Boston University, 120; 20. Williams, 117; 21. UC-San Diego, 100; 22. Colgate, 70; 23. Gonzaga, 66; 24. Marietta, 50; 25. Jacksonville, 49; 26. San Diego, 43; 27. Bates, 40; 28. Trinity, 35

Chapman Award (Team Point Trophy Improvement)
1. Dartmouth, 235; 2. George Washington, 215; 3. Drexel, 207; 4. Wisconsin, 189; 5. Navy, 179; 6. Northeastern, 168; 7. Stanford, 163; 8. Oregon State, 159; 9. California, 155; 10. Washington, 153; 11. Hobart, 151; 12. Syracuse, 127; 13. Brown, 122; 14. UC-San Diego, 100; 15. Cornell, 85; 16. Colgate, 65; 17. Princeton, 53
Varsity Eight (Petite Final - Places 7-12)
1. Boston University, 6:08.820 ; 2. Princeton, 6:11.711 … 5. Wisconsin, 6:21.003
Wisconsin Lineup: Coxswain James Catalano, Adam Wehking, Dylan Green, Edward Brody, Breck Duncan, Garrison Waugh, Joseph Cleary, Isaac Krahn, Jack Hendrickson

Second Varsity Eight (Petite Final - Places 7-12) 
1. George Washington, 6:37.970 ; 2. Brown, 6:41.810 … 5. Wisconsin, 6:51.073
Wisconsin Lineup: Coxswain David Espino, Josh Wehking, Matthew Bernard, Sebastian Murrell, Lorenzo Miller, Olin Frederiks, Michael Horan, Michael Horan, John Young, Matthew Palmer

Third Varsity Eight (Petite Final - Places 7-12)
1. Wisconsin, 6:24.710 ; 2. Drexel, 6:37.927 ; 3. George Washington, 6:39.167
Wisconsin Lineup: Coxswain Connor Slawin, Carson McFarland, William Russell, Aidan Schmidt, Joshua Barth, Samuel Crowley, Henry Dern, Jeremy Falstad, Alex Marett

Varsity Four (Petite Final - Places 8-13)
1. Georgetown, 7:09.088 ; 2. Navy, 7:13.259 ; 3. Wisconsin, 7:13.951
Wisconsin Lineup: Coxswain Jonah Rane, Matthew Marcou, Joseph French, Michael Santry, Matthew King