ACRA Race Report: Day 2 - Finals

The Fighting Illini started the day well with the Varsity Men's 8+ C-Finals. The Fighting Illini stormed off the line, holding even with the pack to the 1000m mark. At the half-way point, the Illini pulled away from the pack and did not look back. They won their race with a couple seats of open water on the rest of the boats clustered behind them. This finish put Illinois firmly in 17th place Nationally, and with the 12th fastest time of the day.The Novice Women's 8+ stuck with the pack fighting for third as Grand Valley and UCSB pulled away from the pack. In the final 500m, the group stretched out and Illinois managed a 5th finish Nationally - the highest finish in University history for an 8+ at ACRA.The Novice Men's 8+ raced in the Petite Finals after failing to advance to the Grand Finals in the repechage the day prior. The Novice Men held off a late sprint from Vanderbilt, while falling to Michigan State, North Carolina, and Minnesota. The Novice finished 4th in the 8 boat race to claim 12th overall in the ACRA Championship.The Varsity Women's 4+ aimed to redeem themselves from their failure to advance from the heats the day prior. The Varsity Women jumped to an early lead, but a strong Vermont crew pulled away from the pack early on. The Varsity Women rowed strong and high, while putting distance on the trailing crews. However, tired from the two races the day prior, they could not hold onto the 4 boats ahead of them vying for medals. The Varsity Women rowed a very strong race to claim 5th Nationally - the highest finish the University has ever claimed in a Varsity event.In all, the Fighting Illini posted two 5th finishes in the Women's Novice 8+ and Varsity 4+. The Men's crews posted a 12th place finish in the Novice 8+ and 17th in the marquee Varsity 8+ event. The Men's Varsity 8+ performance garnered the recognition of many club coaches as well as the race announcer who noted the remarkably clean and quick rowing of such a young program. All athletes left satisfied with their strong performances (and justifiably so) but also left with an eye towards ACRA 2014, a short 12 months away.