SARASOTA, FLA – Jacksonville Women's Rowing achieved a program first at the NCAA Championships on Friday morning, beating a boat head-to-head for the first time ever in program history.

Highlighting a solid day one on the water for the Phins, the Varsity Four was able to edge out Boston University in their heat race by just under 12 seconds, marking JU's first time ever finishing in front of an opposing boat in the NCAA Championships.

Prior to the V4's heat race, Jacksonville's First and Second Varsity Eight kicked off the day of racing by posting heat times of 06:43.397 and 07:02.414 respectively. While the two Varsity Eight's did not beat any boats head-to-head in their heat races, the Dolphin 1V was able to post a faster time than the 1V from Rhode Island (07:00.823) who ran in a separate heat.

With their bottom half results in the heat races, Jacksonville then shifted their focus to the Repechage races which offer teams who did not qualify for the A or B Semifinal another chance at doing so.

Unfortunately, the wind then picked up in the afternoon causing some choppy water conditions, forcing two of the three Dolphin boats (1V and V4) to post slower times than they did in their heat. The Dolphin 1V and V4 both posted times of 06:48.715 and 07:45.684 respectively, which saw them take last place and they will now compete in the D Semifinal races tomorrow.

The Dolphin Second Varsity Eight was able to post a faster time than they did in their heat, recording a time of 07:00.864 which still left them in last place, and like their counterparts, advanced them to tomorrow's D Semifinal race.

When asked his thoughts on the day of racing as a whole, Head Coach Mike Lane was proud of how his 'Phins performed, going up against the top 21 teams in the nation.

"I thought this morning was really outstanding for us. Our goal was to just go out there and compete with the other teams, and I think we did a really good job of that. Obviously, we always want to beat teams, but being as close as we were in the 1V and 2V, and then having the result from the Four I think was really the catalyst for the rest of the weekend in terms of what we're trying to do," said Lane.

"I though it (Repechage races) was okay, I didn't think it was great. But I also think it's a very hard race to get up to for us because there wasn't really much on the line in terms of how they help us progress. So, I thought the reps were fine, a little underwhelming, but I think our guys will get up for tomorrow morning," finished Lane.

The Dolphins now look towards the mentioned Semifinal races tomorrow which kickoff with the First Varsity Eight D Semifinal at 8:24 am. They will then complete their second day of three with the Second Varsity Eight D Semifinal at 9:12 am, and then the Varsity Four D Semifinal at 10 am.

Be sure to follow along all weekend on our Twitter and Instagram accounts @jax_wrow and check back here for a recap on the final two days of action.

FULL RESULTS FROM DAY ONE

First Varsity Eight Heat #3 – Click Here

Second Varsity Eight Heat #4 – Click Here

Varsity Four Heat #3 – Click Here

First Varsity Eight Repechage #1 – Click Here

Second Varsity Eight Repechage #2 – Click Here

Varsity Four Repechage #1 – Click Here