The men’s rowing team won five of six races on a windy Saturday afternoon, amassing 66 points to claim first place in the 29th annual GW Invitational.

The Colonials hosted 17 teams for the invitational, with the men facing off against Georgetown, Navy, Holy Cross, Drexel, Hobart, FIT and MIT.

Saturday’s win marked the second time in program history that the Colonials won the Oliver T. Carr Bowl, the first coming in 2014. The Colonials also captured the Gilbert H. Hood, Jr. Trophy with the highest point total across the men’s and women’s competitions (116).

Men’s rowing head coach Mark Davis credited the win to a full team effort throughout both races.

“From top to bottom, [the win] shows that we have guys working hard and producing good results,” Davis said. “It shows that we have good depth and good speed throughout our boats.”

With the Varsity 8 nationally ranked No. 13 and a large freshman class, the Colonials’ depth of talent proved to be key to its success Saturday.

After the first day of the invitational was cancelled due to unsafe weather conditions, the Colonials found themselves battling through strong tailwinds through the 33 races on Saturday.

“We went to a different schedule than was originally planned and the conditions weren’t ideal,” Davis said. “It shows the maturity of our team that everyone handled it and could race well.”

The Colonials started off their competition with a head-to-head matchup against Holy Cross, with GW’s second Varsity 8 capturing an open water victory over the Crusaders (5:27.90).  The Varsity 8 again edged out the Crusaders to capture the Colonials’ second win of the day (5:18.30).

Men’s fourth Varsity 8 finished second in a head-to-head race against Navy, clocking in at 5:32.70 to Navy’s 5:23.00. The third Varsity 8 and 2V8 helped to clinch the Oliver T. Carr Bowl title for the Colonials with two first-place finishes.

The V8 closed the men’s competition with a first place finish over FIT and MIT, clocking in with the fastest race time of the day at 5:12.30.

With Saturday’s victory under their belt, the Colonials continue to make a push for the Atlantic 10 Championships. Davis stressed the importance of sticking to the basics as the team aims to improve down the stretch.

“We’re going to just come down and try to get faster every day,” Davis said. “All we can do is take it one day at a time and get where we want to be come championship season.”

The men’s rowing team returns to action at home against Georgetown and Rutgers on the Potomac April 22.