The Davis men competed for the first time in program history at the ECAC national championship for non-scholarship programs, held at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA. Our results:
Full results can be found here.
The Davis men encountered difficult weather conditions and equipment difficulties in their first full-squad trip to the East Coast. A strong storm system throughout New England brought permanently grey skies, rain, wind and lightning over the weekend. Saturday evening races were halted temporarily due to lightning, and all crews (including the Davis V8) were pulled off the water to wait for better conditions. Races were again delayed on Sunday after the lunch break, and some lower level finals were cancelled.
The varsity 8 finished 3rd in their heat, moving them on to the A/B semifinals. A 5th place finish in their semifinal put them in the petite final. The petite final saw Davis in 5th for most of the race, trailing UC San Diego and Williams by 5-6 seats. The Aggies uncorked a season-best finishing sprint to catch UCSD by 0.2 seconds, showing great ability to rebound from their loss at WIRAs two weeks prior. The sprint fell just short of catching Williams, however, as they crossed the line 0.08 seconds in front of Davis.
The JV 8 and the 3V 8 struggled with a malfunctioning speaker system in the boat, which made it virtually impossible to hear their coxswains. The JVs had no problems in their heat, finishing 2nd to move on to the grand final. The final was more of a struggle, as the conditions made for unsettled rowing and the lack of clear communication made it difficult to regroup. After being right with all the top 4 500 meters in, the Aggies fell back and finished 5th.
The third varsity 8 got their first and only opportunity of the year to race in a 3V event. They also struggled with lack of communication, but put themselves in contention for the lead right from the start. Michigan pushed through in the third 500 to take the lead, but Davis battled with Holy Cross over the final 500 for silver, and held them off.
The Davis novice 8 overcame a 13 seed in their heat to finish 3rd, moving them into the petite final. Another solid row in the petite final saw them finish 10th overall.
Overall, Davis finished 4th in the team points, behind Trinity, Michigan, and Holy Cross. <% print_footer(); %>