Gold River, Calif. -- Ithaca finished in a third-place tie at the NCAA Championships; the Bombers' 15 points matched Puget Sound for third place, behind champion Williams (five points) and runner-up Trinity [Conn.] (nine points).
The Bombers' 15 points came from a fifth-place finish in the grand final by the varsity 8 (worth five points) and a sixth-place finish in the petite final by the second varsity 8 (worth 10 points). The Bombers are the only program to qualify for every NCAA Division III Championship.
In the grand final, Ithaca's time of 7:13.55 beat out Coast Guard's varsity 8 (7:20.05) and trailed the gold-medal-winning varsity 8 from Trinity (6:57.01), Williams' varsity 8 (7:00.60) and second varsity 8 (7:04.55) and Puget Sound's varsity 8 (7:13.55).
In the petite final, the Bombers posted a time of 7:27.33. The varsity 8 from Bates won the race (7:07.47), followed by St. Lawrence's varsity 8 (7:12.56), Trinity's second varsity 8 (7:13.66), William Smith's varsity 8 (7:16.06) and the varsity 8 from Washington [Md.] (7:23.78). Ithaca's second varsity 8 was one of only three to qualify for either the petite or grand final.
Both boats raced in morning heats Friday, then posted second-place finishes in the afternoon repachage, which determined placing for Saturday's finals.
The Bombers opened competition racing in Friday's heats. The second varsity 8 placed fifth in its heat and the varsity 8 followed with a second-place showing. Both boats will race later Friday in quailying races to determine the line-ups for Saturday's grand final, petite final and third final.
In the first of three heats, Ithaca's second varsity 8 boat finished in 7:26.27, trailing varsity 8 boats from Williams (6:46.84), St. Lawrence (6:55.07) and Coast Guard (6:56.43) and the second varsity 8 from Trinity [Conn.] in 6:57.55.
The varsity 8 boat took second in its heat, posting a time of 7:01.49, trailing only Trinity's varsity 8 (6:47.72). William Smith's varsity 8 placed third (7:07.67), followed by the second varsity 8's from Bates (7:10.03), Puget Sound (7:24.21) and St. Lawrence (7:30.24).
The second varsity 8 posted a second-place finish in the petite quailifer, beating a varsity 8 and four other second varsity 8's. Ithaca's time of 7:22.58 trailed only the varsity 8 from Trinity (7:14.89) and bested the varsity 8 from Washington [Md.] (7:23.17) and second varsity 8's from Bates (7:29.14), Puget Sound (7:30.26), St. Lawrence (7:38.76) and William Smith (7:39.11).
In its second race of the day, the varsity 8 also recorded a runner-up finish, posting a time of 7:07.08 in the grand final qualifier. Puget Sound's varsity 8 won the race in 7:06.53, with varsity 8's from Coast Guard (7:07.80), Bates (7:08.22), St. Lawrence (7:14.07) and William Smith (7:19.30) rounding out the field.
NCAA championships website
