Rutgers rowing finished in 15th place with 54 total points at the 2023 NCAA Championships at Cooper River Park in Cherry Hill, New Jersey on Sunday. All three boats raced to second place finishes in the C finals.
Leading up to the finals, both the 2nd Varsity 8 and Varsity 4 boats both won their C/D semifinals on Saturday. The Varsity 8 boat finished in second. All three boats followed up in delivering strong performances in C finals.
The Varsity 4 boat just lost to No. 10 Syracuse by just 3.4 seconds. The Scarlet Knights earned a 14th place national finish following the second place finish in the C finals.
The 2nd Varsity 8 boat lost No. 14 Duke by 2.5 seconds as Rutgers came up with a second straight second place finish in a C finals. It resulted in a second straight 14th place national finish for the Scarlet Knights.
The Varsity 8 ended the season by giving Rutgers a third straight second place finish in the C finals. RU lost to No. 12 Ohio State by just 1.5 seconds for a third 14th place national finish for the program.
For a second consecutive year, each boat outperformed its seeding at nationals. Despite having just nine returners from last season’s NCAA boats, Justin Price’s program proved it was a consistent performer at nationals. The Varsity 8 finished three spots ahead of seeding. The Varsity 4 were two spots better while the 2nd Varsity 8 was one spot better.
Based on 54 total points, Rutgers finished 15th overall at the 2023 Championships. The program produced its fourth straight top 15 finish at nationals under Price. Rutgers finished in 11th place at the 2019 NCAA Championships before 2020 was cancelled (Covid), followed by back to back 13th place finishes in 2021 and 2022.
As for the Big Ten, none of the four schools finished in the top ten. Michigan finished in 11th place, Ohio State in 12th place, Rutgers in 15th and Indiana in 17th place. Twenty-two teams qualified for the three events at nationals. Full results are here.
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pj43
May 31, 2023 at 4:27 pm
I had an opportunity over the Memorial Day weekend to get over to the nearby Cooper River and see the Rutgers women compete. The weather conditions were ideal, the setting and the course were perfect. The Cooper River has to be one of the best venues in the country to watch a collegiate rowing event. Congrats to the ladies and the coaching staff for a great showing in each of their events. They were a few seconds short of an even higher finish and are among the elite of Big Ten Women’s rowing crews.