WORCESTER, Mass. – All three boats for the No. 2 nationally-ranked Wesleyan men's crew team advanced to the grand final of their respective race, with the Cardinals' varsity 8 taking third out of 16 teams to highlight the showing on Saturday at the New England Championship from Lake Quinsigamond.
 
Racing in heat 3 in the preliminary stage, Wesleyan's varsity 8 won their heat with a time of 5:53.82 that earned a spot in the final. That preliminary time was fourth-fastest among all 16 boats. Then in the grand final later that evening, the Cardinals took third place with a time of 5:51.09 that was just fractions ahead of MIT (5:52.01). The third-place finish for the Cardinals, which was behind only No. 1 Williams and Division I foe Holy Cross, is the best showing for the varsity 8 boat at New England's since Wesleyan captured first in 2019.
 
Wesleyan's 2^nd varsity 8 boat had a great showing, crossing the line with the second-fastest preliminary time (5:58.33) that earned a spot in the grand final. Racing against five other teams, the Cardinals placed fourth overall out of 13 with a time of 6:02.41 in the grand final.
 
Another fourth-place finish came from Wesleyan's 3^rd varsity 8, with the Cardinals clocking in at 6:13.75 in the grand final. This was after Wesleyan had the second-fastest preliminary time at 6:13.67.
 
Finally, the 4^th varsity 8 boat raced to a fifth place finish out of six teams with a time of 6:21.56.
 
Wesleyan is back in action at the National Invitational on Friday, May 12 held at Lake Quinsigamond.