Cardinals Make their Mark at Nationals

Bishop Ireton rowers had program – record performances at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America (SRAA) national championship regatta held on May 24-25, 2013, on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, NJ.  

Sending three boats to compete; the Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Rowing Association (WMIRA) champion girl’s Freshman 8, the men’s Varsity 8 and women’s Varsity 4 with coxswain, the boats met challenging conditions on Friday. The girl’s freshman 8 finished fourth in their heat and did not advance. The men’s varsity 8 finished third and competed in the repecharge event later in the day and won the right to advance to the semifinals. The women’s varsity 4 won their heat and proceeded directly to the semifinals.  Though this was the highest finishes for BI boats to date, they were not done.

On Saturday, the winds came and persisted, flags along the course were standing straight out, and white-capped wavelets were the norm on the course. With a quartering tail-wind, the conditions were challenging to say the least.

The men’s varsity 8 came in fourth in the semifinals and would go to the Petit Final event. With a second place final, the women’s varsity 4 would go to the Grand Finals, marking the first time Bishop Ireton boats have made it to the finals at Nationals.  The conditions did not get any better, however, and small boat races were cancelled for safety reasons.

No fairy tale endings as the men’s boat finished 6^thin their final for an overall national rank of 12^th, and the women finished 5^th for an overall national rank of 5^th.  Many seniors concluded their high school careers with these races, but seven will have a chance to compete against their BI teammates as members of college teams next year.