Rowing claimed second place at the Atlantic 10 Championships Saturday on Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J., bringing their spring season to a close.
Rhode Island topped the field with 52 points to take home its eleventh A-10 rowing crown, besting the Revolutionaries’ 48 point showing. The Revs placed second in each of the three scored races, finishing behind Massachusetts in the V4 race and Rhode Island in the V8 and 2V8 races.
The Revs picked up on their success from last season, taking home medals early in the season and defending their rivalry titles, but fell just short of winning the conference and earning a chance to compete in the NCAA championship. The Revs won the conference championship in 2023 and placed third overall at last year’s championship behind Rhode Island and UMass.
Saturday, the Revs placed second in the first final of the day, the V4 competition, finishing in 08:02.171. UMass won the event with a time of 07:45.689, leading from the start and beating the rest of the field by over 15 seconds.
In the 2V8 competition, the Revs took home silver once again with a time of 06:49.073, falling to the eventual tournament champion, Rhode Island, who won the race with a time of 06:46.273. Earlier this season, the Revs’ 2V8 faced off against Rhode Island in the grand final of the Saint Joseph’s Invite in April, finishing almost five seconds slower than the Rams.
Going into the final race of the day, UMass, Rhode Island and the Revs all had a chance to win the conference crown with a victory in the last event of the day. In the decisive V8 race, the Minutewomen faltered, falling behind early and finishing in fifth place with a time of 6:52.778.
Rhode Island jumped out to an early boat-length lead — which the Revs failed to cut into — with the Rams crossing the line in 06:40.695 and taking home the conference title. The Revs finished next in 06:43.853, just three seconds shy of a potential A-10 title.
The Revs’ V8 boat was named the A-10 Boat of the Week on April 18 for their 3-0 showing at the GW Invite the prior week. The boat went sub 06:30:00 in each of its races en route to victories against West Virginia University, the University of California San Diego and Saint Mary’s College of California.
In their first event of the year, the Revs medaled twice at the Head of the Schuylkill, winning the bronze in championship fours and silver in championship eights.
The Revs went on to defend the George’s Cup and the Class of 1998 Cup in March, defeating crosstown rivals Georgetown University and George Mason. The Class of 1998 Cup is won by the faster V8 between GW and Georgetown each year, and the Revs have now triumphed in the race for the last three years.
The cup commemorates the rowing team from 1998, whose varsity eight boat was the first in program history to qualify for the NCAA championships.
At the conclusion of the season, senior Mary Grace Konopka and freshman Benedetta Bonino earned slots on the All-Conference first team. Konopka was second team all-conference last year.
Juniors Anna Golbus and Lily Sarnowski earned A-10 second-team honors this year. Golbus earned the same honor in 2023.
Rhode Island will represent the A-10 at the NCAA rowing championships starting on March 30 in West Windsor, N.J., after securing the conference’s automatic bid Saturday. The Revs placed 20th in the 2023 NCAA rowing championships.
