OAK RIDGE, TN -  Jacksonville Men's Rowing finished off the 2022 SIRA Championship Regatta in style on Saturday afternoon claiming both first place in the JV8+ Final, and second in the V8+ Final.

Starting the day off with Jacksonville's First Varsity boat competing in the V8+ Semi-Final race, the Dolphins set the pace for the rest of the day by posting a first-place time of 6:08.62, which advanced them to the grand final later on in the event.

Next up, both the Second and Third Varsity boats competed in the JV8+ Final with the 2V taking home first place by posting a time of 6:16.774.

Finding themselves down a deck-length after the first 1,000 meters, JU's 2V fought back hard picking up their pace and ultimately coming from behind to defeat Virginia's first boat in second place by just under two seconds. The 3V struggled to find the pace of their teammates and opponents in the race, finishing up in sixth out of six teams and 13 seconds behind Virginia's second boat in fifth.

Moving on to the V8+ Final, the Dolphin's first varsity boat was able to secure second place after a highly contested race with the eventual winners in Colgate.

After Jacksonville jumped out to an early lead, Colgate would run down JU's 1V and pull away in the last 500 meters securing a victory by just under four seconds. It was a great way to cap off the entire event for the 'Phins as they were able to defeat FIT, Notre Dame, Virginia, and Vanderbilt in route to the second-place finish.

When asked to give some thoughts on his team's performance and fantastic result, Head Coach Preston Weinard was ecstatic in his team's ability to race hard and come away with some hardware, while also praising all current and former Phins for their efforts in getting JU Rowing to this moment.

"It feels good, it feels really good…. Our team isn't used to this, not necessarily the winning part, but setting themselves up to win, and it has taken years to get here so I want to give a shoutout to the whole rowing program over the last several years. It takes time to get here, but the hard work that we have put in this year contributes to it as well."

"The changes that they have made, and all the adversity they have overcome has allowed them to really get good at rolling with the punches and making it work. For us to have a Coxen who went down with an injury on Tuesday afternoon and came back to help the Varsity 8 win second place allowed us to rally and do that… I'm very proud of the team as a whole."

"This was a big day for JU, not just the two boats that medaled but for everyone at JU. This was a big day for them," stated Weinard.

The Dolphins will now take a month-long break from competition before returning to action in the two-day Dad Vail Regatta on both Friday, May 13, and Saturday, May 14.

For full results from the 2022 SIRA Championship Regatta please follow the link provided below.

FULL RESULTS

Results – Click Here