WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The Wesleyan men's crew team capped one of the best single-seasons in program history with both the 1V8 and 2V8 boats taking runner-up finishes on Saturday at the IRA Division III National Championship held at Mercer Lake. This is tied for the team's best finish at a national regatta since 1987.

• RESULTS

This season marks the second year the IRA has held a Division III race and the first time the Div. III competition has featured both the first varsity 8 and second varsity 8. NESCAC schools took the top five spots in the final standings led by Williams' 54 points. Wesleyan finished second with 50 points and was followed by Bates in third with 44, Trinity in fourth with 42, and Tufts in fifth with 36.
 
Friday's racing on Mercer Lake was suspended and eventually canceled in the afternoon due to weather in the area. The forecast forced a scheduled change on Saturday with the Division III races going off just after 9 AM.
 
In the first varsity grand final, Wesleyan trailed Williams by nearly 2.5 seconds after the first 500m but made a drastic comeback to lead at the midway point by 0.414 seconds. However, Williams surged in the ensuing 500m, taking a lead of more than 5.5 seconds. Wesleyan finished strong in the final 500m of the 2000m race, holding off Bates in a photo finish for second place as the Cardinals finished at 6:37.899 compared to 6:37.971 for the Bobcats.
 
In the inaugural second varsity 8 grand final, the script played out a bit differently as Williams held a lead of more than 4.5 seconds at the midway point, only to see the Cardinals overtake the Ephs with a time of 1:44.338 in the next 500m split to take a lead of more than two seconds heading into the final 500m. Even with the momentum, Williams closed incredibly strong with a time that nearly went sub-90 seconds in the final 500m, as the Ephs took first place. Racing for second, Wesleyan held off Trinity by just over a full second as the Cardinals clocked in at 6:47.926 while the Bantams crossed the line in 6:48.946.
 
1V8 lineup: Asher Israel '26 (coxswain), Pierce Buckner-Wolfson '26, Brett Beaman '26, Eli Smirin '26, Nelson Bellows '26, Emmett Nunes '23, Oliver Diamond '23, Paul Kiyonaga '25, and Joe Kagan '23.
 
2V8 lineup: Leo Rosenblum '25 (coxswain), Cory Reavy '26, Max Ewing '24, Freddie Bell '25, Oliver Saffery '23, Eli Kooistra '26, Kiran Kling '24, Hugo Harington '25, and Chris Saadé '25.