WORCESTER, MA. – It was an exciting day on the water for the Wesleyan men's crew team's 3^rd varsity 8 boat, snagging first place as Wesleyan raced four boats at the National Invitational Rowing Championships on Lake Quinsigamond on Sunday, May 11. Wesleyan placed fourth of 20 scoring teams with two additional boats placing third.

Tufts won the championship on the men's side, earning 170 points. Following, Williams (163) was the runners-up, Trinity (159) placed third, Wesleyan (157) was fourth, and rounding out the Top 5 was Bates (147).

After running a 5:57.698 in the first heat of the 3V8 leg of the championship, the Cardinals reached the Grand Final and beat the preliminary time by nearly four seconds. Crossing the finish line at 5:53.197, the Cardinals took first place, besting Hobart (5:56.719) by another three seconds.

Wesleyan's 2^nd varsity 8 boat turned out a third-place finish in the Grand Final following a runner-up finish in the second heat of the campaign. Racing a 5:58.539 in heat two, the Cardinals topped their time by four seconds at 5:54.555 in the Grand Final, finishing behind Williams and Tufts.

Fielding a 4V8 on the day, the Cardinals earned another finish in third place as the boat raced a final time of 6:05.329 to bump the scoring.

Feeling the heat, the varsity 8 boat raced the Grand Final after a second-place finish (5:48.897) in heat two earned a guaranteed position in the finals. The Cardinals were the last boat to cross the line, placing sixth with a final clocked time at 5:49.026. Trinity took the top finish.

The Cardinals will take time to prepare for the IRA National Championship on Saturday, May 31, and Sunday, June 1.