June 7, 2008

CHERRY HILL, N.J. - On a humid Saturday on the East Coast, the Stanford lightweight Varsity Eight rowed their most aggressive race of the season and turned in a third-place outing in the Grand Final. The place marks the boat's best finish at the IRA Regatta in the history of the program.

The Cardinal blasted out of the gates and took a two-seat lead at the 1500 meter mark. At 1000 meters, Wisconsin moved well ahead, leaving Stanford to fight out the remaining places seat-for-seat with Georgetown and Bucknell. In the last 500 meters, Georgetown moved out and Stanford crossed the line in third.

The Cardinal Lightweights earned the top time from a West Coast boat with a final time of 6:42.056. That mark was slightly under seven seconds back of the winning boat from Wisconsin, and 2.439 behind runner-up Georgetown.

"I couldn't be more proud of their gutsy race," commented Head Coach Al Acosta. "It takes a lot of trust in your teammates to go out that hard. For them to do that at the national championship is amazing."

2008 IRA Regatta

Varsity Lightweight Eight Grand Final
1. Wisconsin - 6:35.117
2. Georgetown - 6:39.617
3. Stanford - 6:42.056
4. Bucknell - 6:43.693
5. Princeton - 6:46.423
6. Radcliffe - 6:51.801