On April 18-19, the women’s rowing team traveled down to S.C. to compete in the Clemson Invitational at Lake Hartwell. The boats that raced were the varsity eight and second varsity eight. There were 21 teams competing, 10 of them ranking in the current Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) poll.

“It was a great experience to go up against 20 very strong programs from the Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC, SEC and Ivy conferences/leagues. We came home with our second consecutive win (in three years) against in-state rival University of Pennsylvania, and our first ever-wins against Tennessee, Dartmouth, and Minnesota, who was ranked #20 in the country going into the weekend,” Head Coach Stephen Kish said.

In the first session of racing, the Orange and Blue varsity eight boat came in fifth at 6:25.6. In session two, they came in fifth again. Finally, on Sunday they came in sixth, just six seconds ahead of Dartmouth. The second varsity eight came in seventh for all three sessions.

“Competing at the same regatta as the current and former national champions from Ohio State and the University of Virginia was both an eye-opener as well as opportunity to see the direction we want to be heading in,” Kish said. “It was a very challenging first-half of the spring racing season. The long winter meant we had limited time on the river, and the high river levels create challenging conditions at practice. The group has done a solid job keeping a steady focus on improving from week to week.”

The Bison will return to the water on May 8-9 in the Dad Vail Regatta in Philedelphia.