Question: What's faster than fast? Answer: The Jacksonville University women's rowing program.

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The Jacksonville University women's rowing program is going to the big dance for the second time in as many years as JU nearly swept its conference competitors, winning five of its six races Sunday in the MAAC Championship regatta. A total of 53 points crowned the Dolphins' second straight conference title and as a result the program receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Regatta Championship.

"We set our goals at the very beginning of the school year, and repeating as MAAC Champions was the main goal," said Head Coach Jim Mitchell. "We had some bumps and challenges along the way, but this team never strayed off the path. Repeating is tough. Sticking to your goals over a whole school year is tough. But this team is very tough and resilient, and that's a big contributor to their success today."

"Everyone on this team contributed to our championship. Our philosophy is that everyone must contribute every day, in some way, to the greater good. It paid off today and gives us a chance to continue to represent JU at the highest level of collegiate rowing, the NCAA Championships."

Jacksonville brought a four and a pair of eights to compete in the championship and all three of them won their respective preliminary race to advance to the afternoon's grand finals. At 9:10 a.m. the Dolphins' V4 took to Mercer Lake for the first heat of the day, it cruised to victory in 8:14.385. Nearly seven seconds separated JU from its second place competitors in the V4 and 2V8 events, while the Fins' varsity eight captured the largest margin of victory.

Sounding the horn in 6:56.304, one of only two V8 crews to finish its prelim in under seven minutes, JU raced in almost 20 seconds before Robert Morris (7:14.072). Marist competed in the other varsity eight heat to post a time of 6:59.666; both met at 2:10 p.m. in the final where JU held off the Red Foxes for the gold medal. With a time of 6:46.927 in JU's final race, the Fins secured the program's second MAAC title. Marist posted a time of 6:55.582 and Fairfield finished third with a time of 6:59.377.

"The first eight has been strong all year, so we knew we had a good chance, but we also knew that everyone else was getting faster and gunning for us. We rowed a very mature race, where we controlled the majority of it and then kicked it in high gear for the finish."

There was stiff competition in the V4 grand final with the top three crews rowing in two seconds apart. Canisius' four posted the first place time of 8:00.502 with Jacksonville closely blazing its path for second (8:02.618). Marist rounded out the top three to finish in 8:04.204.

"The four had a great day of racing. They practice alone often, or with the eights. We knew they worked hard but we didn't really know what their speed was like. They made us very proud of the way they raced."

In the second varsity eight final, the Dolphins set the standard in 7:09.135. The gold medal was the first earned on the day for the women. The Red Foxes finished second with a time of 7:11.507 and Fairfield third in 7:15.782.

"The second eight is a scrappy bunch who fought hard all the way down the course. It was a pretty close race until the end, where their efficiency and scrappiness paid off."

Marist College finished second with 47 points, followed by Fairfield (41), Canisius (36), Robert Morris (31), Iona (20), Drake (18), Sacred Heart (13), and Stetson (10).

Gold River, Calif. will be Jacksonville's next destination. The back-to-back MAAC Champions have received an automatic berth to the NCAA Regatta on Friday, May 29. The selection show airs live on Tuesday, May 19 at 5 p.m. The championship runs May 29-31.

Women's I Eight

Coxswain - Lauren Whetzel; 8 - Danielle Keeler; 7 - Stefanie Keeler; 6 - Julianna Welch; 5 - Jessica Mathews; 4 - Veronika Stasaityte; 3 - Bridget Keough; 2 - Victoria Hernandez; 1- Stacey Price

Women's II Eight

Coxswain - Claire McLenna; 8 - Micaela Hill; 7 - Victoria Tkacz; 6 - Kelly Cleveland; 5 - Ashley Hirt; 4 - Jennifer Pavlik; 3 - Joan Spinelli; 2 - Tori West; 1 - Rylie Ayles

Women's I Four

Coxswain - Monica Hakun; 4 - Emily Woods; 3 - Jodi Coia; 2 - Sydney Warpness; 1 - April Beck