CHERRY HILL, N.J. – The top-ranked Trinity College Men's Rowing team grabbed a pair of victories, along with a second-place finish at the Knecht Cup on Cooper River Sunday afternoon.
 
In preliminary races on Saturday, all four Trinity V8+ boats qualified for the finals on Sunday. The 2V8 squad opened Sunday's Finals with a nail-bitter against MIT, defeating the Engineers by a .09 seconds with a time of 6:10.84. In the second race of the day, the Bantams 3V8 and 4V8 crews fought hard with the 3V8 taking second-place to Skidmore by a half second, while the 4V8 squad finished fifth. The Bantams V4+ squad raced hard and took fifth in their heat with the sixth fastest time across the heats.
 
During the final race of the day, the Bantams came away with the William J. Knecht Memorial Trophy as the 1V8 boat cruised to victory, defeating MIT by 1.6 seconds, posting a time of 5:50.10 in the win.
 
"This was a productive weekend for the first and second varsity as we look towards our ultimate objectives at the NIRC and IRA later this spring," said Trinity College Head Coach Kevin MacDermott. "We were happy to come to New Jersey, face stiff competition, and be challenged to perform at our best under pressure." 
 
"The third and fourth varsity 8+s, as well as the varsity 4+, all learned a huge amount about collegiate championship level racing," added assistant coach Nate Clark. "A handful of athletes in the fourth varsity had never raced six boats across on a buoyed course before, so coming to the Knecht Cup is invaluable in preparation for New Englands and the NIRC. Every crew should walk away feeling proud about a few things from this weekend and looking forward to improving a few things from this weekend."