PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – Colgate's Varsity Eight and Varsity Four boats earned first-place finishes in their respective petite finals to help the Raiders finish seventh in the Patriot League Championship on Friday afternoon at Cooper River. 

Colgate's Varsity Eight shined in the petite final, securing a time of 07:06.865 to claim the top spot over second-place Loyola (07:11.777) and third-place Lehigh (07:20.535). In the Varsity Four petite final, Colgate crossed the line with a time of 08:29.724, three seconds faster than Lehigh to claim first place. 

"We were hoping to peak at the right time and I felt like our boats finally did that today," said head coach Jim Lister. "We saw all of them put together their best performance at some point during the heat or the final today. I was really pleased to see our team come together. We finally got to see our speed. We just wish we had more opportunities to show it. 

"We have a lot of returners, so there's a lot of excitement about coming back next fall and being a better program next year. We will have a lot more rowing maturity in our boats and that will be revealed in our depth with the addition of our incoming class."

Colgate's 2V8 brought home a second-place time of 07:36.856 in the petite final, 20 seconds faster than its heat time to finish ahead of Loyola (08:01.648) while trailing Lehigh's first-place finish of 07:32.366. 

Colgate's Varsity Four kicked things off with a fourth-place finish in its heat with a time of 08:38.224, trailing third-place Holy Cross' time of 08:22.002. Navy's crew secured the top spot after clocking in at 08:02.041, followed by MIT (08:12.592). 

The Varsity Eight secured a spot in the petite final with a fourth-place time of 07:14.973, two seconds behind third-place Bucknell's finish of 07:12.530. Navy crossed the line first with a time of 07:06.293, followed by MIT in second (07:08.775).

Colgate's second Varsity Eight also took fourth with a time of 07:56.309. MIT, Navy, and Holy Cross captured top three finishes, respectively, to land in the grand final. 

Boston University (54) edged Navy (44) and MIT (44) to secure the 2024 Patriot League Championship. Georgetown finished fourth with 36 points, while Bucknell rounded out the top five with 29 points. 

"The Patriot League is a deep conference," Lister continued. "There are a lot of good programs bunched up on each other. We can compete against the best. We have a group that's ready to return next year and be faster on Day 1."

Colgate Lineups

1V8+
Katherine Metcalf (C), Rebecca Carew, Genna Lamphier, Natalie McCall, Audra FitzGerald, Meredith Francis, Elena Myatt, Sophia Cerroni, Marie Clausen

2V8+
Kyleigh Russo (C), Ella Siegenthaler, Naomi Siff-Scherr, Eileen McCleary, Lael Gott, Talya Djemil, Morgan McClutchy, Anna Kate Gwiazdowski, Grace Ciaravino

1V4+
Clare Acuti (C), Sarah Regner, Ellinore Ament, Sarah Sandifer, Anya Suko2024 Patriot League Women's Rowing Major Awards

Boat of the Year: Boston University Varsity Eight
Coach of the Year: Malcolm Doldron, Boston University 

2024 Patriot League Rowing Championship Results

1. Boston U. - 54 
2. Navy - 44 
3. MIT - 44 
4. Georgetown - 36
5. Bucknell - 29
6. Holy Cross - 27
7. Colgate - 16 
8. Lehigh - 11 
9. Loyola - 9