CHERRY HILL, N.J. – The University of Pennsylvania men's lightweight crew program finished third overall at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships, which concluded Sunday on the Cooper River.
 
The Quakers brought more hardware home on Sunday as the Second Varsity Eight gave Harvard a serious scare on the way to a second-place, silver-medal finish. In the Varsity Eight final, the Red and Blue were kept out of the medal count by MIT, which nipped Penn for third place by just five-tenths of a second.
   
As a team, Penn accumulated 43.5 points which left the Quakers behind team champion Harvard (54.0) and second-place Dartmouth (45.0). Princeton (37.5) was fourth behind the Red and Blue.
 
1V8 (Grand Final)
The Quakers were in position for a medal midway through Sunday's Grand Final, but MIT rowed through them in the third 500 and were able to hold that edge to the finish line by a little more than five-tenths of a second. Harvard led the race wire-to-wire in gaining the victory, while Dartmouth was a strong second throughout.
  Harvard 5:29.620
  Dartmouth 5:32.250
  MIT 5:34.390
  Penn 5:34.910
  Princeton 5:36.750
  Navy 5:41.030
 
2V8 (Grand Final)
The Quakers gave top-seeded Harvard a battle right to the finish line, but the Crimson escaped with a 1.3-second win for gold. Penn was a comfortable second, about 1.5 seconds ahead of Columbia which clipped Princeton for third by just three-tenths of a second.
  Harvard 5:39.980
  Penn 5:41.300
  Columbia 5:42.850
  Princeton 5:43.170
  Dartmouth 5:45.360
  Yale 5:51.530
 
V4A (Grand Final – Saturday)
Penn led at the 500, 1000 and 1500 marks but couldn't hold on in the final 500 as both Georgetown and Mercyhurst ran the Quakers down. The Hoyas ended up beating the Lakers by a half-second, and the Lakers bettered Penn by two seconds. The Red and Blue were able to hold off Harvard for third place by three-tenths of a second.
  Georgetown 6:23.900
  Mercyhurst 6:24.410
  Penn 6:26.420
  Harvard 6:26.760
  Navy 6:33.330
  Columbia 6:35.450
 
For the latest on Penn men's lightweight rowing, follow @PennLwt on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.