WEST WINDSOR, N.J. - The Marist men's crew team won their 11th consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship on Saturday, earning 156 points. They narrowly defeated Jacksonville, rowing in their first season in the MAAC, by 13 points.
The Marist women's program fell by just a two-point margin to Drake, 33-31 to finish second. It was the third straight year the women finished second since they won the MAAC Championship back in 2008. Last season the Championships were cancelled due to weather.
The men won the Novice Eight, the LW Four and Pair races. They Novice Eight boat finished in time of 6:21 while the LW 4, with a time of 6:51.7, won by nearly eight seconds ahead of second-place Iona. In the Pair race, the Red Foxes took the top spot with a time of 7:29.9 four and a half seconds ahead of the boat from Loyola (Md.). The Red Foxes also came in second in four other races - the Varsity Eight, the Second Varsity Eight, the Varsity Four and the JV Four.
On the women's side, Marist came in first in three races and second in one other. They took the top spot in the Second Varsity Eights with a time of 7:18.3, four seconds ahead of Drake. The Varsity Eight boat took second, in what was the closest race of the day on either side, falling only to Drake by less than a tenth of a second. The Novice Eight A boat and Open 4 boat also finished first in their respective races with times of 7:27.1 and 7:33.0, both winning by at least 13 second margins.
Next up for the Marist crew programs are the NYS Championships May 5 and 6 at Whitney Point, N.Y. Back in 2010, the women's Varsity and Novice Eight boats advanced to the finals at the same competition.
