WORCESTER, Mass. - The Trinity College men's rowing second-varsity eight earned a bronze medal with a third-place finish in the grand final race at the National Invitational Rowing Championship (NIRC) Regatta on Lake Quinsigamond this afternoon.  Trinity put both its varsity and its second-varsity eight into grand final races, and the varsity eight claimed sixth in its grand final.  Trinity's third varsity eight came in third place in the petit final.  Williams won the varsity eight grand final to earn both the gold medal and the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title.  MIT was second, followed by Wesleyan, Tufts, Michigan, and Trinity, as the Bantams finish fourth among NESCAC teams.  The Bantams finished tied with Hobart for sixth in the Overall Points Trophy standings with 103 points and fifth in the Men's and Women's Overall Points Trophy Standings with 221 points. 

"There was a lot riding on racing at the NIRC including the NESCAC championship and qualification opportunities for the Division III National Championship at the IRA," said Trinity Head Coach Kevin MacDermott.  "The varsity produced their best race of the season in the heat to upset Bates and qualify for the grand final.  This guaranteed the crew a top-four finish in NESCAC and a likely qualifying spot for the IRA.  It was a gutsy and maximal effort and I was happy for the crew to have this performance.  Unfortunately, they didn't have anything left for the final in the afternoon and were not competitive with the field.  This crew has improved consistently throughout the season and I know they will use this loss to motivate their upcoming training."  

Trinity's second varsity eight won its heat with the fastest preliminary time of all 12 boats at 6:20.042.  In the grand final, the Bantams registered a time of 6:01.961 which was just .05 seconds shy of second-place Bates, while Williams won the race at 5:54.085.  In its varsity eight heats, Trinity's boat edged Bates's crew by almost a full second to claim second and a spot in the grand final.  Trinity was ranked No. 5 and Bated was No. 3 nationally entering the weekend.  Trinity's grand final time of 6:08.044 was well behind the pace.

"The second varsity continued their outstanding run of results with a bronze medal winning performance in their final," added MacDermott. "Williams took control of the race early, and there were four crews across, battling for over a mile of the race course and separated by less than two seconds at the finish line.  The 2V missed silver by 5 hundredths of a second and are eager to improve on their performance in the coming years.  The third Varsity had another productive and encouraging day of racing.  We are most interested in the long-term development of this crew and they have taken great strides towards understanding the required intensity of college-level training, preparation, and racing.  It is a strong group and their progress has been encouraging.  I hope they stay committed to the process of learning, training, and improving."